Torchbearer
by btn29
Summary: In which a Mother's prayer is answered, a child's birthright is not denied to him, and his life is forever changed as a result. Features a more confident Izuku, a slightly nicer Bakugo, and a certain No. 2 Hero taking an interest. Rated M for language, violence, and safety purposes.
1. Chapter 1: A Mother's Prayer

Chapter One: A Mother's Prayer

A young boy with a head of messy dark green hair and beady green eyes was sitting in front of a computer, while his mother stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder and an indulgent smile on her face. In and of itself, this was not an unusual scene. Indeed, any household with a child who was just old enough to use the computer might have such a scene.

What made this situation unique was two particular facts. Firstly, the boy was sitting stock-still in his seat, with his eyes as wide as he could make them, as though missing even a nanosecond of whatever he was watching would be intolerable. Secondly, his face was frozen in an expression of adoration so pure and absolute that it could only have come from a child.

" _Everything is fine now. Why? Because I am here!"_

A behemoth of a man was standing on a fallen building in front of a burning hellscape that had once been part of a city. No fewer than seven unconscious people were in his possession, with two under each arm and three easily fitting across his massive shoulders. There was blood trickling from his brow, and scuff marks and ash were visible all over his body.

Nevertheless, the man smiled.

He smiled and laughed as though he had not a care in the world. As though the pain of his injuries meant nothing to him. As though the burden of his charges was negligible at best. As though the toxic air, burning heat, and nearly one hundred souls he had retrieved thus far could not even put a dent in his seemingly endless reserves of stamina.

The Symbol of Peace: All Might.

The video froze on this last image, having reached the end of its runtime. It was at this point that the young Midoriya Izuku remembered to breathe.

Inko silently observed that if the video had been too much longer, then her son might have passed out or given himself brain damage with how often he asked to watch it. Even after all those times he still reacted exactly the same way. She couldn't blame him though; his reaction brought the same smile to her face every time too.

"One more time! Please Mommy?"

Right on cue. Inko sighed to herself. She really did need to put him to bed soon. He still had school tomorrow after all, and he had already gotten three "one more times" out of her…

…But she just couldn't help herself.

"Alright, Izuku. But just one more. This time I mean it, okay? You really need to go to bed and you still haven't brushed your teeth yet."

"Okay! Thank you!"

Izuku dragged the time slider all the way to the left and let it go, and the video started anew with the cameraman shouting about the situation. The destruction, desolation, and the one man who had somehow already rescued nearly one hundred people.

He wanted so badly to be a Hero. Even if he didn't talk about it all the time, his mother would still have known just from the way he looked at them. Just from the way his eyes lit up whenever they were brought up in conversation. It didn't even matter who the Hero was; he was just as enthused with the small-time Sidekicks as he was with the big-name Heroes.

But there was always one that excited him more than any other. One Hero who stood above all the others in Izuku's view as much as in the rest of the world: All Might.

The man who believed in helping those in need, no matter where or when. The man who would suffer any injury and bear any burden, if only it would lead to the salvation of another. The man who would brave the flames of hell again and again, as many times as it took to pull every last survivor from their grasp. The man who sought salvation even for those who opposed him with lethal intent.

The man who, more than any other, truly deserved to be called a Hero.

Yet Inko was worried. Really, it would be easier for one to count the days when Inko was _not_ worried about something or other, usually revolving around her son. This particular topic of worry, however, was easily in the list of Top Ten Things That Midoriya Inko Worries About On A Daily Basis. Fairly close to the top, if she was honest with herself, especially these days.

Her son had yet to manifest a Quirk. His very own special trait that nearly eighty percent of the world took for granted, that she and his father both possessed, had yet to show itself in her boy.

It was not unheard of by any means for a Quirk to manifest a bit later on in childhood, but with each generation the average shifted to a bit younger than before. Indeed, almost every child in Izuku's kindergarten class had manifested their Quirks already. It was down to him and one or two others. Probability said that if one out of every five people will be Quirkless, then the odds of at least three or four out of a class of about twenty being left without was highly likely.

And Inko did not like what those odds were suggesting about her son. Oh, she would love him just the same regardless, of course. Perish the thought of anything ever happening that would make her love for her son anything less than unconditional and absolute. She was and would always be his number one advocate, his biggest fan, and his most steadfast supporter come hell or high water. Quirk or no, Hero or no, nothing in the world would ever, _could_ ever change that…

…But she knew what being Quirkless would mean to her son. To hell with what it would _mean_ _for_ him, it was what it would _do to_ him that truly made her lose sleep at night.

It would destroy him. He would learn in the most direct, brutal way imaginable that the world did not care about him or his dreams, that fate was at times little more than luck of the draw, and that there were some things that a person just could not change, no matter how hard they tried. It was a lesson that every child must learn eventually, yes, but to have it thrust upon one so young and so full of potential…

…It broke Inko's heart, it truly did, but all the more because it was her own boy. She knew it might make her a terrible person, but at that moment she had a thought.

' _If the other children in my son's class end up being Quirkless, then so be it, but if anyone or anything out there can hear me…then please, let my son find his gift. Let him follow his dreams. Give him the tools he needs to be the best that he can be, and let him live a life without regrets.'_

The video was almost over, Inko realized. She had lost herself in thought to the point that she had almost missed the entire thing, and the accompanying reason that she indulged her son the way she did when it came to such things.

" _Everything is fine now. Why? Because I am *fzzt*"_

It was at that moment that every light and electronic device in the Midoriya apartment, as well as the entire building and the area surrounding it, went dead.

"Aww! Where'd All Might go? That was the best part!" Izuku was visibly upset that the video had stopped prematurely, to the point that he didn't even seem to realize that the lights had all gone out as well. Where in the world did that boy get his one-track mind from? Should she be worried about that?

"Izuku, the storm outside must have knocked over a power line or something. Be a good boy and stay put while Mommy gets the candles, okay? I'll be right back."

"Okay, I will."

Activating the flashlight on her phone, Inko quickly made her way to the pantry and took out a trio of small, scentless candles that were there for just such an emergency. She took a long lighter from a nearby drawer and clicked it a few times before a small flame lit at the end. Lighting the first of the candles carefully, Inko deactivated her flashlight and put her phone back in her pocket, wanting to conserve the battery in case the power outage lasted longer than usual. She took the candle in one hand and the lighter in the other and made her way back to her son.

"Darling, hold this for Mommy and follow me so I can light the other candles please."

"Okay!" Excited at the prospect of being able to help, the young Midoriya hopped out of the computer chair and held out his hands for the candle. It was as his mother was about to hand it to him that she noticed that part of the candle was already on its way towards him.

Specifically, the flame.

"Izuku, what in the world?!" Inko was so surprised that she dropped the candle, which was now thankfully unlit and bounced harmlessly off the carpeted floor. There, suspended in the air and moving ever closer to her mesmerized son's outstretched hands, was the tiny candle flame.

"Ouch!" The flame had momentarily come in contact with Izuku's palm before suddenly dissipating. His exclamation of pain was more than enough to snap Inko out of her state of surprise ten times over. It didn't matter what had happened, her baby was hurt!

"Izuku!" She fumbled in the dark before using her Quirk to attract the candle back to her hand and lighting it once more. She quickly knelt down in front of her boy and looked at his hand. Indeed there was a small burn mark there but it was what she saw behind that hand that made the reality of the situation kick in.

Tears. Tears and the single biggest smile Inko had ever seen.

"M-Mommy! I-I've got a Q-Quirk! I've g-got a Quirk, and it's j-just like yours!"

It was at that moment that the trademark hyperactive tear glands of the Midoriya household kicked into full gear and Inko wrapped her son in her arms, thankful beyond words that her prayers had been answered.

Her son wasn't Quirkless. He wouldn't be ostracized from the rest of the children. He could follow his dream.

He could be a Hero.

* * *

 **I've been lurking around this site for about ten years at this point, and I finally worked up the nerve to post something.**

 **I've got the first couple chapters figured out already, so those might come sooner rather than later, but for now I intend to keep to a schedule of at least one chapter every two weeks. If inspiration strikes me or I just can't stop my fingers then I might post more than that every so often, but most likely that will just take the form of longer chapters.**

 **I need to give a shout-out to two stories and authors in particular that inspired me to finally man the hell up and pull the trigger on this: Awkward Energy - MinaDeku by QuirkQuartz and Cubicity by crazyman185. These stories and the authors that write them are incredibly awesome and I urge anyone that hasn't given them a look to do so.**

 **I know there's not much here yet, but any and all reviews will be read and appreciated.**

 **And hey, thanks. I appreciate you taking the time to look at this.**


	2. Chapter 2: He's My Sidekick

**The initial reception this has gotten has been incredible. In less than 24 hours Torchbearer had over 250 views, and at the time this chapter is being posted it has 23 Follows, 11 Favorites, and 6 Reviews. You guys are awesome and it fills me with pride that people are seeing this and being intrigued by it.**

 **Before we get to the meat, I'm gonna do something I've enjoyed when other authors did it: Pre-chapter review responses!**

 **Divine above question, Aguion12, and NPGamer11: I am super excited that I have managed to pique your curiosity and hope to keep you engaged.**

 **Shiranai Atsune: This chapter should clarify a bit more about how Izuku's Quirk works, but just to be sure, no, he cannot create his own fire. He will eventually gain the ability to * _censored due to spoilers_ *, but he will never be able to create fire at will.**

 **jaimevilla2001: Well, to say it outright would be spoilers, but she _is_ one of the tagged characters and I _do_ like stories that have pairings. Take that how you will.**

 **RandomDude: No worries man, happens to everyone. So, in order: No, I do not plan on making this fic Deku x Mina or Deku x Toru (though obviously I do enjoy these pairings), nor do I intend to make it a harem fic. I just meant that the way they crafted their stories and breathed new life into the characters really stuck with me, and after having read each of these stories twice my inspiration was just too stoked to let it go this time. Also, I super appreciate you working up the nerve to post your review.**

 **Alrighty, that's done! Stay tuned for the post-chapter notes because I have a question for you all.**

* * *

Chapter Two: He's My Sidekick

"Alright, now it's time for us to take a moment and have a very important discussion."

Normally, when a teacher says something like that, half of the class immediately zones out. Normally, it's some by-the-numbers monologue about responsibility, respect, or not shoving Billy's head in the toilet anymore. Indeed, this particular teacher was usually the one who would have those talks with his students, whether because he enjoyed it or just because the other faculty members kept passing the buck was anyone's guess.

This made the atmosphere in the room all the more unusual, because every single student was sitting up straight, eyes forward, mouths closed. They knew what this was about; their teacher had been hinting at it for the past week. How could they not know?

"It's time for us to discuss your career paths. Some of you might want to go into the work force straight away, while some of you might want to go onto high school and maybe even university afterwards, so I'm going to pass out these survey sheets for each of you to fill out and then – oh, who am I kidding? You all want to follow the Hero track anyway, right?"

An explosion of noise and activity was his answer as the entire classroom was suddenly filled with more energy than was ever present during his lessons. Students were smiling, laughing, talking about their ambitions and dreams with all he innocence and vigor of youth. It was enough to make their sensei smile and remember why he took this job in the first place.

But there _was_ one thing he had to clamp down on straight away.

"Now, now, no usage of your Quirks in public without express permission, you know that. Wonderful as they all may be, Heroes more than anyone should be aware and respectful of the law."

"Oi, Sensei," a brash voice full of confidence emanated from the middle of the room, "don't go lumping my awesome Quirk in with the rest of these rejects. They're Sidekick material at best."

Bakugo Katsuki was lounging back in his chair with his feet up on his desk, eyes half-lidded beneath his wild ashen hair as though he was just waking up from a nap, though his grin was far too sharp for this to be the case.

"Ah, Bakugo. You must be aiming for U.A. High School with grades like yours."

"Damn straight!" the confident boy kipped up straight onto his desk from his chair, displaying his phenomenal physical prowess for one so young, "I'm headed straight for the top! I'm top of this class, and I aced the mock exam too! I'll become the number one Hero and surpass even All Might!"

"Yes…" the teacher tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I believe our number two student was considering U.A. as well, weren't you, Midoriya?"

There was a moment where all eyes turned to the green haired boy sitting just behind the boastful Bakugo. He was sitting rigidly in his chair, eyes darting from face to face until they landed on his confident classmate. For a moment, it looked as though Katsuki was about to say something until the rest of the class beat him to the punch by breaking out into raucous laughter.

"Huh?! Midoriya?! No way! Isn't he Quirkless or something?"

"Yeah, good grades alone can't get you into the Hero program dude."

"You got a death wish or somethin'?"

"Oi."

With that single syllable, Bakugo had brought silence to the entire room. He hopped down from his desk and scanned the room until he found the student who had made the Quirkless comment.

"Let's get one thing straight here, Deku ain't Quirkless. His Quirk just sucks, that's all." Katsuki began to walk towards Izuku's desk, "But then again, everyone's Quirk sucks compared to mine. Some are worse than others though." Bakugo had reached Midoriya's desk at this point and began moving to stand behind him, "For instance, I can tell you with complete fucking certainty that his Quirk is loads better than swivel neck, anteater, or sharkbait over there." He indicated a student with an extended neck, a student with an elongated face, and a student with an oversized mouth full of sharp teeth.

"It's like I said before," Bakugo continued, now standing behind Izuku on his left, "the most any of you could ever be is a Sidekick." He clapped a hand on Izuku's shoulder, "That's what Deku is. He's my sidekick and I'm taking him to U.A. with me. The rest of you rejects are gonna have to deal with the leftover scraps since I don't feel like babysitting more than one of you though. Sorry about that."

The other students stared at the intimidating figure of Bakugo for a few seconds before turning back around and facing front, pretending that nothing had ever happened. They may have been together throughout middle school but damned if that was one relationship any of them had ever understood. From the outside looking in it seemed like most of the time the Explosion Quirk user was little more than a bully to Midoriya, but then he would do something like this. He would tell off someone who was giving the other boy crap or ask, in his own demanding way, if the two of them were still hanging out that afternoon.

Izuku, for his part, gave a long-suffering sigh as a small smile made its way to his face. Kacchan was always like this, but what he had just said really sent him down memory lane. It had been the day, in his mind, that they had become best friends.

" _What? What do you mean that's all it does?"_

" _I mean that's all I can do. I can attract fire like a magnet."_

" _Can't you push it away too? Or are you immune to burns or something?"_

" _No…it actually kind of hurts when it touches me. See, on my hand?"_

 _It was the day after the young Midoriya had discovered his Quirk. Of course, the very first thing he had done was ask his mother to light the candle again so he could experiment with it. In the hour that he had been able to convince her to let him spend practicing, he had discovered that, indeed, his Quirk_ was _just like his mother's. She could attract small objects, but nothing else, and he could attract flames, but nothing else._

 _Of course, when he got to school he had immediately wanted to tell everyone about his Quirk, especially Kacchan, who had expressed his impatience with Izuku "dragging his butt" when it came to manifesting his special power. Being a good boy though, he waited until recess to tell him._

" _Wow," Bakugo had said after he was done examining the small burn on Midoriya's palm as proof of his story, "your Quirk's kinda useless huh? Maybe I should start calling you 'Deku'. You know you can read the kanji in your name that way?"_

 _Tears immediately started forming in Izuku's eyes, but Katsuki was not done yet, turning to gesture at the other children some distance away._

" _At least it's still better than some of these other setups we've got here. I mean, one of our classmates is a fat kid with wings, and another is a skinny kid with long fingers. How the heck does that make any sense? At least if those were switched they might get some use out of them. Fatso wouldn't have any trouble getting food, and skinny would actually be able to get more than a foot off the ground!"_

 _Izuku's eyes were still shining a bit when Kacchan turned back to him and gave him a smile._

" _Don't worry about it, Deku. You can just be my Sidekick. That way you won't have to worry about not being able to fight villains or whatever. You can just help me out!"_

Ever since then, Bakugo had started interacting with Izuku more, and the world's biggest All Might fan eventually realized that he was the only one the temperamental boy actually saw as a friend, even if he would never use that word. He hung around with other kids, sure, or maybe it was more accurate to say that other kids hung around _him_ , but they were just hangers-on. Lackeys. An entourage more than anything. It had always been clear that Katsuki was going places in life, and his peers instinctively understood that and flocked to him.

If it hadn't been for the fact that he was so determined to have an impeccable record, Izuku mused, Kacchan would probably have blown some of them up by now just on principle. He hated it when people tried to leech off of him or schmooze their way into his "good" graces. Once they were partway through middle school, it had gotten so bad (along with his newfound supply of testosterone), that Kacchan had finally had enough and decided to lay down the law. Instead of a storm of violence that ended with a group of students in the infirmary, he had used his popularity to call an informal meeting of sorts after class one day.

" _Alright shitheads, listen up! I've had it with all the bullshit, the cozying up and the idol worship! I can't even say a word or scratch my sack without someone trying to suck my dick! It's fucking pathetic! So, from now on my new policy is this: Fuck. You. If any of you losers want my respect, then you're gonna have to earn it, and it's really that fucking simple. So, to reiterate: Fuck you, go home. Come on, Deku."_

Needless to say, the explosive teen had lost a lot of popularity after that, even if nobody in their right mind would ever mess with him. This suited him just fine though, and he went from looking like he was about to straight-up murder somebody in the halls to just looking like he was considering the possibility.

It was always baby steps when it came to Bakugo. Izuku felt though, in his own humble opinion, that he had managed to curb his friend's more antisocial tendencies somewhat over the years, or at least stop them from developing as far as they otherwise might have. He shuddered to think what Kacchan might have been like if he had nobody who would ever try to reign him in.

Of course, that was part of the problem. Bakugo "Lord Explosion Murder" Katsuki was nobody's tool, and he took exception to anyone trying to tell him what to do, even if it was nothing more than a passing suggestion. Deku had learned to deal with his friend's temper as time went on, and always knew to pick his battles. There were some things that he would just have to overlook or he would drive himself up the wall thinking about them. Cursing at his classmates, being disrespectful to their teachers (though none of them cared since his grades were impeccable), and routine threats of violence were the norm with his chosen companion, and he would just have to deal with that.

A sudden flash of light and sound far nearer to his face than he was comfortable with jolted Izuku out of his thoughts. He saw Kacchan standing in front of him with his hand about a foot away from his face and smoking slightly.

"Oi. Earth to Dumbass. You started sleeping with your eyes open or something? If so cut that shit out. It's fucking weird."

"Ah! S-sorry about that Kacchan. I was just thinking about something."

"Whatever. I was trying to ask if you knew anything about this new Hero debut that happened earlier. That giant that keeps sticking her ass out everywhere. That was the route you usually take to get here, right?"

"Oh, you mean Mount Lady? Yeah, I was there actually! Kamui Woods was fighting this huge villain who was holding up the rail system, and right when he was about to use his Super Move, she showed up out of nowhere and kicked the villain in the face! Knocked him right out. After that, yeah. She struck a pose and introduced herself. Everyone started taking pictures. Then she shrunk down to normal size and started doing an interview."

Izuku would be lying if he said he hadn't appreciated the view, but seriously, a whole group of guys whipping out their phones and snapping pictures like that? Have some shame.

"Huh. Alright then. I'm guessing you've already got her in your weird notebooks, right? How many does that make now? Twelve?"

"T-thirteen, actually."

"Nerd. Well, I guess note-taking is a good skill for a Sidekick to have, so you're off the hook."

His Hero Notebooks were Izuku's pride and joy. Every Quirk he knew about, every Hero or Villain he had ever seen in action, every tidbit of information he thought was worth writing down went into these notes. He re-read them every so often when he needed something to do, so the information was always fresh in his mind. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that he knew more than any other kid his age about how to deal with different Quirk matchups.

Bakugo knew this. He knew full well that the walking compendium of Hero info would be damned useful when the time came to actually start fighting, and while he was a tactical genius when it came to his own Quirk, Deku was a tactical genius when it came to _any_ Quirk. He had to be. Flame Magnet was a hell of a curveball to deal with when it came to making it viable in live scenarios. It was made all the worse because the poor bastard didn't even have any resistance to the flames he summoned unless he freaking _ate them_.

What the hell was that all about? A flame user that didn't have any protection against fire on the outside, but on the inside he was built like a brick shithouse? That was messed up as far as Katsuki was concerned. At least that little feature wasn't completely useless though; Deku never had to worry about any of his food or drink being too hot to handle. Bastard hadn't burnt his mouth on anything since he was in freaking kindergarten! Might not have been too useful in actual Hero work but that shit was annoying damnit!

The boy who literally sweated explosives snapped out of his reverie and realized that he must have been standing there scowling at Deku's notebook in silence for the better part of a minute. He probably thought he was thinking about blowing it up or something. Couldn't blame him really, he was always talking about doing stuff like that.

"I gotta get out of here anyway. I promised I'd hang out with those other two losers today. I swear to god though if they start smoking around me again I'm gonna let 'em have it. I'm not getting in trouble because their dumb asses have a death wish."

"Okay, Kacchan. See you Monday."

"Don't call me Kacchan."

"Don't call me Deku."

"Fuck off I'll call you what I want."

"Same here then."

"Tch. Later." The blonde bomber stalked off with his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face that didn't reach his eyes. This particular exchange had become something of a ritual between the two. Every now and then Katsuki would get annoyed that Izuku still insisted on calling him by his Kindergarten nickname, but Izuku would rebuff him by pointing out he still did the same thing, making him a hypocrite.

It was one of the few things he could count on Deku giving him backsass for, and it always seemed to give the other boy a small confidence boost when he let him get away with it, so he endured it.

…Not that he would ever in a million years admit to his Sidekick that that was the reason.

* * *

 **I really felt like I was getting more into the flow of things with this chapter, which was nice. I hope my reasoning for why Bakugo is a bit different than in canon isn't too hard to swallow. I could have spent a chapter on their younger days I suppose, but I really didn't want to. I want to get straight into the good stuff!**

 **Definitely let me know what you think about this portrayal of him and Izuku.**

 **Now for that question I mentioned up top:**

 **So my notes for this story have reached the point of the Battle Trial on the first day of U.A., and I realized something: This was done entirely at random in canon, so there is no way in hell that the matchups would or SHOULD be the same as canon. I don't want to just rehash canon, and I'm sure you guys don't want to read that either.**

 **My question then is this: How would you like to see me handle the matchups?**

 **I have a few different ways I could do this.**

 **A) Have the teams be the same as in canon but randomize their matchups.**

 **B) Go nuts and randomize EVERYTHING.**

 **C) Some combination of the two.**

 **Let me know in your reviews which of these ideas you like the best. If you choose C), then let me know what you would like to be the same and what you would like to be different. Or you could PM me if you want. Either way works.**

 **An example of this might be: "Randomize all the things but I'd still like to see Izuku fight Bakugo." Something like that.**

 **I will be keeping track of the feedback on this until I start writing the Battle Trial chapter in earnest, at which point I will let you all know in the A/N that the voting is done, and announce the results.**

 **No matter what happens, this is going to play out differently than in canon, that I promise.**

 **As always, thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3: No Quirk Is Useless

**I am a man possessed! My fingers cannot be stopped, my inspiration is limitless, my reviewers are amazing and I don't have to work this weekend! PLUS ULTRA!**

 **Now for the reviews, of which I have received 12 in the past ten hours since Chapter Two was posted. That's twice as many as Chapter One received after an entire day and some change. Holy crap.**

 **Plasma Dragon 312: Well, you see, *censored due to spoilers*.**

 **Jerrend: I'm glad you like it. It was one of the reasons I wanted to go this route. I just think it'd be cool to see them as friends from the start.**

 **Legion's Gurdian: We are on the same wavelength with that. I think this chapter should address that issue.**

 **Silenthawk170: Thank you for your kind words, your vote has been logged, and the answer to your question is "Yes." :P**

 **RandomDude: I...there are no words. Thank you. Thank you so much. In order as before: Yes, the idea I had was that if Izuku managed to befriend Katsuki while he was still relatively innocent, then he could have a positive influence on him as they grew up, and indeed, he does see Izuku as being inferior to him, but he sees everyone that way so he's not singling him out this time. The next two questions should be answered by this chapter, the two questions after those will be answered by future chapters (sorry, but that there's spoiler territory).**

 **And dude, feel free to write a review for every chapter if you want. The only way to do this wrong in my eyes is to leave a review that says "It sucks," or "I didn't like it," and not explain why. No Review Is Useless.**

 **TheCrazedButtstabber (Markiplier reference FTW): Glad you're intrigued. Also this is a good idea, and it's one of the main reasons why I made sure to give myself that two week buffer just in case. The other reason is I work Monday-Friday and every other Saturday so I wanted to make sure I have time to work on it. I'll definitely be slowing down some once I start to catch up to my notes.**

 **tyger0011: Thank you for that. Dialogue is actually one of my favorite things to write, and I try very hard to make it sound natural. A trick I use is actually reading the dialogue aloud by itself like I was having a conversation while I'm writing it. If it sounds dumb, it needs a rewrite. For his Quirk: He can only attract fire, not repel it. This chapter should answer that second question in part, though not completely. Third question will be answered in the future as well.**

 **I'm glad you're a fan of their dynamic, and that moment will absolutely come. Your vote and advice has been noted and is appreciated.**

 **StevenTLawson: You raise several good points here in the first part. Thank you for your dissection there and I have taken your views into account. I don't think it would be spoilers to say I always intended for there to be an Izuku vs Todoroki fight. It just makes too much sense not to. If not in the Battle Trial then certainly in the Sports Festival (talk about something that's a ways off though).**

 **Now, this second part here...are you a wizard? Are you in my head? Are you reading my notes? I'm not gonna say that everything here is exactly what I was thinking, but certainly a scary amount of it is. I'd say about...70%, and you know what they say, C's get degrees. I'm scared to even say what's correct or not for fear of spoilers so...good job. And Endeavor will certainly have a role to play in this story. He is tagged in the summary after all.**

 **Aguion12: I too am a fan of Chill!Sasuke. I'd recommend Better Left Unsaid by Kenchi618 if you haven't checked that one out yet. There is actually a scene where Sasuke cracks a joke and it's legit funny. Plus every other part of this fic is amazing. My fave Naruto fic for sure, and it's still ongoing.**

 **Fanfiction is My Life 4EVer: I must plead the fifth. Because spoilers. I am always willing to take suggestions and thank you. I have his Quirk pretty much figured out. You'll see.**

 **Gokuu the Carrot: Thank you. I hope it continues to interest you. Your vote has been noted.**

 **Shiranai Atsune: His Quirk will definitely be explained more as time goes on (don't worry I'm not just pulling stuff from thin air, it's all in my notes). You will see. Your vote has been noted. I was thinking about introducing him prior to the Sports Festival, yeah. There's some time that's not really explored in canon, so maybe I'll do it then?**

 **...I hope me doing these reviews at the beginning doesn't piss anybody off. I know it tends to inflate word count but I don't use that as a measuring stick for success here anyway.**

* * *

Chapter Three: No Quirk Is Useless

Midoriya Izuku was having a very eventful day, he thought to himself as he struggled to moisten his throat and eyes.

He had lingered for a few moments behind the school practicing with his Quirk using a hidden stash of lighters he knew some of the students kept there. Kacchan had mentioned it to him once and the way he figured it, it was a better use of them than giving himself cancer.

Plus, his mom didn't like him "playing with fire" at home, for obvious reasons. Still, the guy had to practice. It was the only way he would ever improve. Heck, he had even had some brainstorming sessions with his explosive friend about situations where it could be useful or combo moves they could pull off. It was during one of these sessions that Bakugo had an idea.

" _Oi, why don't you try using your Quirk on one of my explosions?"_

Izuku had done so, and it actually worked…sort of. The reason was immediately apparent: Kacchan's explosions created bursts of fire, sure, but the main thing that made them so destructive and forceful was the blast waves they released. Still, it gave Izuku something to work with in a team situation, especially if he managed to find himself in a flanking position with Kacchan when he fired one off. Even if the target dodged, he could still make sure they got hit by the burning part of the attack. It could serve as a distraction if nothing else.

After his solo practice session was over, Izuku was actually feeling pretty good about himself. He had managed to not burn himself a single time by making sure to release his attraction before the flames made contact with his skin, at which point they would quickly dissipate. This was a phenomenon he had noticed before, and his working explanation was that since the flames were no longer feeding from their fuel source, they could not sustain themselves without his Quirk. What exactly his Quirk did to maintain the flames was still a mystery, but for now a functional knowledge would have to be good enough, though he would have preferred a theoretical knowledge as well.

The interesting application of this knowledge was the question of exactly how much fire he could attract at once. If he could attract a large enough amount, and extinguish it without burning himself, that would give him a highly efficient method of dealing with, for instance, a burning building. Unfortunately he had never had the occasion to truly delve into his capabilities, since the largest fire he was ever privy to was a small campfire. He had been able to attract it to him in its entirety, but the speed at which it had moved had surprised him and he had ruined one of his shirts.

That was another problem: Izuku was never able to control the rate of approach of the flames he attracted to himself. It seemed that the movement speed of the fire was directly proportional to the amount of energy contained within it. A larger, more intense blaze would approach him with much more vigor than the flame of a simple lighter.

One thing that was absolutely clear to the boy was that he needed more practice. He needed to be able to work and experiment with his Quirk to be able to fine-tune it. The problem was that, well, that would take a rather large amount of fire. More fire than anyone would be comfortable being around. Any conflagration of the needed intensity would be immediately set upon by the fire department, the local heroes, or both. If he happened across one himself, it would be too late for him to try anything, compounded with the fact that it was illegal for him to use his Quirk in public without a license or express permission from an authority figure. Starting a fire wasn't an option either since he would probably be charged with arson. In that case he'd just be doubling down on his crimes, and an aspiring Hero couldn't do that.

That was what it all came down to in the end, really. Izuku wanted to be a Hero. He was grateful to Kacchan for sticking by him all these years, and he would always help his friend however he could, but he wanted it to be as equals, not as a Sidekick.

He couldn't fault Katsuki for seeing him the way he did; Flame Magnet was definitely not in the same league as Explosion, and it didn't help that he was unable to really flex his muscles, so to speak. His vitriolic companion had simply taken the information available to him, and made what he considered to be the most logical decision, given that he legitimately did want the best for Deku: if he couldn't be a Hero, then being a Sidekick would be the next best thing.

And he couldn't fault him for that. Hell, he couldn't even argue with him. He couldn't say he was mistaken on a single point of that analysis. As much as he tried to stay positive, Izuku had to admit that his friend was absolutely, one hundred percent correct.

But that didn't mean he had to like it, and it sure as hell didn't mean he had to give up either! He would stay strong in the face of adversity and bear it all with a smile, just like All Might!

"Ha ha ha ha!" the young boy's laughter rang out through the shadows of the tunnel he was walking through as he thrust his fist into the air and plastered the most All Mightian grin he could onto his face.

The next thing he knew he had been internally violated by a sludge monster to the point of nearly suffocating and was being woken up by the man, the legend, the Symbol of Peace, the one and only All Might.

The Hero had made sure he was alright, signed his notebook without even needing to be asked, and then prepared to take off as he thanked Midoriya for his continued support.

But there was something that, now that the boy was face-to-face with his idol, he absolutely, one hundred percent needed to know. There was no way to stop All Might from leaving though, for god's sake the man had the strength of a hundred ordinary people on a _bad_ day, so the Hero's number one fan did the only logical thing he could think of.

He latched on to All Might's leg as he took off with a herculean leap that took the pair of them from ground level to overlooking skyscrapers in about half a second. It was without a doubt the most insane ride the young man had ever been on in his life, and there was no way in hell he would ever be scared of any man-made rollercoaster again. Not when he was staring potential death in the face for the second time in less than fifteen minutes.

All Might had eventually landed on a non-descript building in the middle of town and made his intentions to be gone very clear. That was the situation the aspiring Hero now found himself in.

With a final desperate swallow, he cried out for the number one hero to wait.

"I cannot wait. I must be gone from here."

"I need to ask you, I have to know-"

"It will have to wait for later! Perhaps you could send me a fan letter? I respond to every one you know."

"Can someone with a terrible Quirk ever become a hero like you?!"

"A terrible Quirk? What?"

"My Quirk…it's dangerous to myself and everyone around me." Izuku's gaze fell and his eyes closed as he struggled not to tear up from finally saying this out loud, "Just using it with any amount of effectiveness requires me to already be in a terrible situation, and it makes me the focal point of the danger that I'm supposed to be helping people survive! I want to save people just like you, but how can I do that when I'm just as likely to make them go up in flames?! I…I've tried so hard to be strong, to always smile no matter what, just like you do, but I…I can't do it anymore! I want to be a Hero All Might! I want to be the strongest Hero just like you but I don't know how! So please," his eyes snapped open, tearing up in spite of himself as he bared his soul to his idol, "please help me, All Might!"

…But the man in front of him was not All Might. The man in front of him had the same hair color as All Might, and was wearing the same clothes that All Might had just been wearing, but that was where the similarities ended. In front of him was an emaciated man who looked like he was having a hard time just staying on his feet. He was shorter than All Might with sunken eyes and hollow cheeks.

"W-who are you supposed to be? Where'd All Might go?" A pause. The man stared back at Izuku, and it was only now that the boy realized that there was strength in his gaze. The shriveled-up body hid an iron will.

"I _am_ All Might." Blood dripped from the man's mouth as he said this.

"No way!" It was the only thing he could say. What this man had just said was impossible. All Might was…he was All Might! There was no possible way that this twig of a man could ever be mistaken for the Symbol of Peace.

But then where did he come from? And where did All Might go? Izuku had had his eyes closed for long enough for All Might to be long gone, and the Hero had repeatedly stated his need to be elsewhere. Fine. Izuku could buy that. That still left the issue of where this man had come from. He was nowhere in sight when the pair of them had arrived on the roof, and the only way to or from the roof was though the door behind Izuku. There was simply no way the man could have opened the door, closed the door, made his way to _exactly_ where All Might had been standing, _and_ have done this all in complete silence. Maybe All Might had coincidentally spotted a man who shared his hair color and outfit on the street below, leapt down, told him to pretend to be All Might, delivered him back to the roof, and then left for real? Not plausible. There were so many factors and coincidences involved in either of those explanations that they may as well have been impossible.

So the man couldn't have made his way to the roof of his own accord, and All Might couldn't have delivered him here either. That only left one viable explanation, and it was the most implausible one yet:

The man was telling the truth. Somehow, he and All Might were the same person.

"Kid? Hey, kid! Oh crap I think I broke him. ***cough*** "

"Eh? What?"

"You were mumbling up a storm there, kid. I was wondering if you had lost your marbles."

"Ah…s-sorry, er, All M-Might."

"'Always smiling no matter what,' huh?" All Might sat down on the roof in front of his biggest and most confused fan, "What you're seeing right now is the real me, kid. Don't go posting about it on the internet though, okay?"

"I-I…y-yes, sir. I mean n-no, sir."

"May as well come clean about the whole thing then." All Might lifted his shirt to reveal the left side of his torso, "Five years ago…an enemy did this to me."

"This" was the single most horrific scar Izuku had ever seen. It took all of his mental fortitude not to look away. The left side of the man's chest and upper abdomen looked like they had been…caved in by something. A sledgehammer probably couldn't have done that much damage with a single blow…but All Might was not done.

"My respiratory system was nearly destroyed, and I lost my entire stomach. I had so many surgeries that I wasted away due to the after-effects of them. I can only work as a Hero for about three hours a day now."

"Five years ago…when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?"

"Heh. You've done your homewo- ***hurk*** ," some more blood was ejected from the man's mouth and he took a moment before continuing, "No. That lowlife could never do something like this to me. The battle that caused this was never made public. I _asked_ for it not to be made public. Do you know why?"

Izuku could not honestly say that he did, and so simply shook his head, not trusting his tongue at the moment.

"A Symbol of Peace who saves people with a smile must never be daunted by evil. The reason I smile…" At this All Might looked directly into Midoriya's eyes and the young man felt like a massive weight was pressing down on him, "…is so I can lie to myself. I can tell myself that I don't feel the overwhelming pressure of my station, and that I'm not filled with fear every time I walk into battle that I'll make some horrible mistake that can _never_ be undone." All Might stood with his feet spaced shoulder-width apart, fists clenched at his sides, "You mentioned your power being dangerous? A single swing of my fist can level a building. A misplaced leap or dodge could kill an innocent bystander." He took a few steps towards Izuku as he continued to speak, the sheer intensity radiating from him would have been enough to keep the boy in place even if he had half a mind to move, "A Pro Hero should always be ready to risk his life. Every time, every day, for every person he seeks to save. If you truly lack confidence in your power the way you seem to, then this is _not_ the path for you. No Quirk is useless in the right hands the same way that no tool is useless in the right hands, but should those hands tremble at the wrong moment, then it's all over. For both you, and whoever you were trying to protect."

All Might stopped just to the side of his number one fan and placed a hand on his shoulder in a gesture that was simultaneously placating and condemning.

"You have to be realistic, my boy. If you cannot believe in yourself, then why should anybody else? Grit your teeth and steel your heart. That is the only advice I can give you."

And with that, All Might was gone.

* * *

 **Damn, All Might. You really tore into poor Izuku there, huh?**

 **My reasoning for this is actually fairly simple: Yagi Toshinori was born Quirkless. In canon, this causes him to be more sympathetic towards young Midoriya. Not to say he is unsympathetic here, but instead of someone who is powerless wanting to be a hero it's someone who has no confidence in the power he was born with, power that Toshinori was never able to take for granted. Maybe he's a bit annoyed?**

 **Gonna be getting into a bit of action next time. That's right, it's time for the Sludge Villain!**

 **If you haven't voted for the Battle Trial yet, make sure you do that! The more input I get, the better I can make it. Details about that are in the Author's Notes at the end of Chapter Two.**

 **On a more personal note, the reception this fic has gotten not even being three days old yet is blowing my mind. Each time my phone buzzes to tell me about another favorite, follow, review, etc it's like a shot of raw energy straight into my body. I could become addicted to this.**

 **Fanfiction. My anti-drug turned drug. XD**

 **As always, thank you for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4: I Expected Nothing Less

**Well, we broke 1,000 views, so that's a thing.**

 **...A really, really super awesome thing.**

 **A couple people have expressed their concern about posting too quickly and potentially burning myself out. I totally understand the risks, and I definitely appreciate the words of advice. My big goal here was to get through this first major section of the story. You all probably won't see anything new from me until next weekend or the weekend after that one, depending on work and how quickly the next chapter goes, and I didn't want to leave you hanging at this point in the story. Part of the reason I gave myself a 2-week window was so if there was a day when I didn't feel like working on it, I wouldn't have to force myself. At the same time though, I'm a lazy guy by nature, so I needed to have some kind of deadline to force myself to stay productive. Strike a balance, if you will.**

 **Review time:**

 **Silenthawk170: Thank you for your concern. That "yes" was me being coy. So is this: Yes. :P Though this chapter should answer one of those questions at least.**

 **Jerrend: This is definitely not the end of his Quirk's development, no.**

 **Aguion12: I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the concern and don't worry, I'm taking the rest of the day off after this is posted.**

 **BIGGYCHEESE: Well, yes to some of that no to other parts. You'll see.**

 **Legion's Gurdian: I am glad you like that. I'm definitely trying to avoid giving a complete rehash of canon. Izuku's fighting style was the first thing I developed before I even started on the story, so no worries there!**

 **Shiranai Atsune: I hope this lives up to your expectations.**

 **Alright, without further ado, Sludge Villain time! This chapter is nearly twice as long as any other chapter so far (10 pages in Word, Chapter Two was 6), so I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter Four: I Expected Nothing Less

Bakugo Katsuki was having a very eventful day. The thought was a fleeting spark at the back of his mind as his vision started to grow dark around the edges, suffocating on the disgusting fluid that had his nose blocked and was working its way down his throat…

He had done as he had told Deku he would, and caught up with the two classmates he was supposed to hang out with that afternoon, one of whom happened to be the same long-fingered boy from their kindergarten days, not that he had bothered to remember him. Sure enough, Katsuki's prediction came true as they took a shortcut through an alley and the pair of them produced a pack of cigarettes and started lighting up. This irritated the Explosion Quirk user so much that he kicked a random bottle on the ground hard enough that it smacked into a nearby wall. He whirled around to face the pair responsible for his current irritation.

"Oi! I thought I told you assholes to stop smoking! If you get caught it'll go on my record too!"

The other two boys did not respond, merely staring at the space behind Bakugo with looks of absolute horror on their faces, the one boy having helpfully extended his pointer finger to illustrate the situation.

Now, the prodigy had seen looks of fear and horror before. Some of them had even been directed at him, so he had a rough idea what different degrees of terror meant. It went in roughly this order: Fear of Bakugo, Fear of a Teacher, Fear of a Parent, Fear of a Villain, and Oh Dear God What The Hell Is That. He had mentioned this rating system to Deku before, and the response the Flame Magnet Quirk user had given had surprised him.

" _Whoa, you mean your instincts are good enough that you can read people's expressions?! I knew you were amazing, Kacchan, but that's incredibly useful! Did you know that one of the most common mistakes people make is to follow the gaze of others when they look like they've seen something? It's social behavior that's been part of human instinct for a really long time, but the downside of that is that taking the time to look means that for that instant, they let their guard down."_

" _Eh?"_

" _Look, just promise me one thing, Kacchan. If you ever see someone with that fifth look on their face, don't turn, don't hesitate, and don't think. Just_ move _."_

"Blast Rush Turbo!" Bakugo immediately sent himself hurtling through the air at an upwards angle towards a nearby wall, kicking off of it to both add more height and face whatever it was he was convinced was about to attack him.

His actions were immediately vindicated by the monstrosity that he beheld below him. It was a mass of viscous green fluid, eyes and teeth that had smashed into the ground where he had been a fraction of a second earlier.

"Get back here, kid! I want that body and that Quirk!"

And it could talk apparently. Fan-fucking-tastic. So, this was a Villain then. Could this actually have been amazing luck? This was his chance, right? He could take the villain down single-handedly and those two flunkies would be there to see the whole thing. He'd be known as the prodigy that was on the level of the pros before he even started high school!

"Oi, shit stain!" It was just too good to pass up, "You picked the wrong guy to fuck with here! I'm gonna paint this alley with your disgusting-ass body!"

With a bang, Bakugo sent himself into an overhead flip while still in the air, intending to land behind the villain and let loose with the biggest explosion he could muster. It was fortunate he moved when he did, otherwise the tendril of slime that suddenly engulfed his right hand might have taken him around the torso instead.

"RAAAH!" A large explosion blew the ooze clear off of his hand before it could drag him back to earth, but his trajectory was all screwed up. No matter. He thrust his left hand downwards at a slight angle and used a steady stream of explosions to correct his course, but any chance of attack was totally shot. The living personification of over-confidence and youthful arrogance he may be, but Katsuki wasn't stupid. He knew that just slugging it out with a living, sentient mass of sludge that moved that fast and had a near-infinite number of ways to attack him was a death sentence unless he was able to do enough damage with a single explosion to blow it into pieces.

And he wasn't sure he could do that. Not without a significant amount of build-up first, and he had just burned what was supposed to be his big gun early to free his hand. How the fuck was he supposed to fight a goddamn mass of liquid?!

Wait, liquid?

A savage grin spread across the blond bomber's face as he raised his hands and sent himself hurtling towards the ground with an explosion, surprising the Sludge Villain so much that for a moment it hesitated. That moment allowed its opponent to slam his hand into the ground next to a sewer access point and cause the cap to flip into the air with the force of his explosion. He propelled himself straight up with a series of explosions, catching the cap between his knees as he rose. He was pouring sweat with the force of his exertions, but that only made his ascent that much quicker. He ceased his explosions and continued to rise for a moment, hands reaching for the heavens as he released the lid from his knees.

"EAT SHIT AND DIE!" his eyes screwed shut from the effort, Bakugo cut loose with a massive pair of explosions, propelling himself downward and causing the sewer cap to be trapped under his feet like some parody of a surfboard. A surfboard made of over a hundred pounds of wrought iron that was currently rocketing towards the ground at an incredibly dangerous speed. With one final boost from Katsuki that took every last ounce of his strength, it collided with the ground directly on top of the Sludge Villain.

 ***KROOOM***

The result was like someone had set off a bomb in the pavement. Whatever resistance the villain's body had provided had been completely ignored as the air underneath the sewer cap could not get out of the way quickly enough, and the impact had sent a spray of debris and fetid sludge in every direction. Crouched on top of the cap in a pothole of his own making was Bakugo, his face a rictus grin of trimph and pain.

"Nngh! Fuck, my legs…Well at least that pile of liquid shit should be out of commission long enough for me to call the cops or something…"

"Oh, is that what you think?"

"…You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Heheheh, HAHAHAHAAA!" The Villain's body was reconstituting itself before Katsuki's very eyes, "It took an attack from All Might to put me out of commission for any amount of time. I'll admit, that was a good try, but you're just a kid. How could you ever hope to compare to _him_?" The ooze began to creep its way up the immobile teen's legs, "It's not your fault though. You were swinging above your weight class from the start, even if you put up a better fight than I thought you would." The slime was now engulfing his torso and making its way to his neck. His body began to move without his permission, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of your body and your Quirk once I make them my own."

A grotesque parody of the human body formed around Bakugo and began to trudge out into the main street, casually taking a chunk out of a nearby corner with a swipe of its hand.

"As a matter of fact, why wait? Let's have some fun!"

It was complete carnage. The Villain adapted to Katsuki's enhanced strength very quickly and began shooting off random explosions at anything and everything. Buildings were destroyed, the street was torn up, and everything in between was wrecked with extreme prejudice. The whole time, the slime crept higher and higher. It was around his head now, the Villain's oversized teeth and eyes making him look like some nightmarish mascot costume.

Heroes showed up then, and that was when the destruction began in earnest. They either had quirks that weren't powerful enough to damage the Sludge Villain or had to focus on evacuating citizens and putting out the fires that were burning everywhere.

It was getting hard to breathe. The goo was blocking his nose, forcing him to open his mouth, and that was when he discovered that the substance tasted every bit as foul as it looked and smelled.

' _No…not like this! As if I'd let this crazy fucker take my body!'_

With every bit of strength he could muster, Bakugo tried to blow his hands free of the slime's grasp, but all he was able to do was create a small pair of openings that were quickly mended.

His vision was starting to grow dark around the edges, suffocating on the disgusting fluid that had his nose blocked and was working its way down his throat…

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Midoriya Izuku was dealing with a lot at the moment.

His idol, the man he had looked up to his whole life, had just wildly altered his image of him, entrusted him with the biggest secret he had ever known, verbally torn him a new one, and then walked away.

Sure, he was upset. A part of him wanted to just give up and accept that he would never be a Hero the way he was, but a much bigger part of him was carefully turning All Might's words over in his head, analyzing them and burning them into his memory.

The emaciated man had a point. A Hero had to do more than just run around saving people. They also had to inspire confidence and stop people from panicking. How could he do that when his confidence in himself was so low to begin with? The fact that All Might had flat-out stated that he felt these same fears, these same insecurities, but forced himself to work through them was a real eye-opener for Izuku. It made him realize something that everybody knew, but nobody ever really thought about:

Heroes were people too. They laughed and cried, sweated and bled, and everything in between. They had names, lives, and families. Things that they could lose in an instant if they weren't at their absolute best, and sometimes even if they were.

Of course they felt fear. Of course they felt the pressure.

But they did it all anyway. They risked their lives every day, every time, for every person.

That was what made them Heroes in the first place, and somewhere along the line, just like everybody else, Izuku had taken that for granted. He felt like an absolute ass.

' _Yeah. That's right. I've always just assumed that everything would work out as long as I tried my hardest and Kacchan was there to help me. I've always thought that just because I wanted this to happen that it just…would. But things like this won't just happen. I need to take responsibility, and I need to_ make _this happen. I need to- what the hell is going on over there?'_

There was smoke, fire, and a large crowd of people. That usually meant that another Villain was on a rampage, which usually meant that there were Heroes present, which meant that Izuku was all over that like white on rice.

His curiosity took a sharp turn into disbelief, and then spun out into absolute terror as he began to understand the situation.

He knew that Villain. He was more familiar with that Villain that he would have ever wanted to be. But All Might had captured him, hadn't he? He had shown Izuku the soda bottles that he had stuffed the villain into after blowing him apart with a single punch, he had had them in the pockets of his cargo pants when-

Oh, dear god no.

Nonononononononono.

They hadn't been in his pockets when they were on that rooftop. He had dropped them. Probably when Izuku had latched onto his leg as he took off.

It was his fault the Villain had escaped.

"Hey, it's got a kid! Looks like he's wearing a middle school uniform!"

Correction: It was his fault that the Villain had escaped, AND that now another kid was suffering the same fate that Izuku had been about to succumb to when All Might had saved him, AND none of the Heroes present at a glance had the correct type of Quirk to deal with the situation.

Midoriya could do nothing but stare in absolute horror, his hands involuntarily covering his mouth as he remembered the sensation of being violated by that mass of evil sludge.

"Isn't that the same Villain All Might was chasing earlier?"

"Hey, yeah! Where's he at?"

"What's All Might doing?"

There, in the crowd, supporting himself on a traffic post, was a familiar head of shaggy long hair, with a gaunt face, and an over-sized T-shirt with a pair of cargo pants.

" _I really have to leave. I don't have time for this right now!"_

" _I can only work as a Hero for about three hours a day now."_

"No…"

All Might had already been at his limit when he had saved Izuku from the Sludge Villain. It had taken the last of his reserves to land him safely on that building.

' _I'm sorry! It's my fault that All Might is right there and can't do anything! None of the Heroes here have the right Quirk to catch the Villain or to save you! Hang in there until someone with the right Quirk shows up! I'm Sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Someone will come to save you soon! A Hero's bound to come!'_

As these thoughts burned through Izuku's head, the unfortunate victim of the sludge villain had his head jerked sharply upwards, and his eyes met Izuku's, filled with pain, desperation, and fear.

It was Kacchan. Kacchan was the one that was suffering because of Izuku's mistake. His friend. His partner. They were always supposed to have each other's backs and now…

No.

 **NO.**

Before he could have any conscious thoughts other than that one simple word, Izuku's body had broken through the crowd of onlookers and his legs were carrying him as quickly as they could past the line of Heroes and towards the horror show in front of him.

"What? No! Get back here you fool! Stop!" One of the Heroes was calling out to him, but Izuku only vaguely registered it in the back of his mind.

The rest of his mind was frantically trying to come up with a way to save his friend. There was fire everywhere, but he was too far away! He needed to be closer. The Villain was getting ready to attack him, he needed to distract it somehow!

"Hiyah!" in a single motion, Izuku had removed his backpack, spun around, and hucked it straight at the Villain's face. By some incredible stroke of luck, the bag had torn open and one of his heavy textbooks had nailed the Villain right in one of it's oversized eyeballs. Distraction complete.

Now that it's grasp on Kacchan was momentarily weakened, Deku was able to tear away the part that was covering his mouth, allowing him to take a breath of life-giving oxygen.

"Deku! No!"

"Kacchan, I need you to trust me!" with that Izuku grabbed a random chunk of slime and threw it over Katsuki's face, so that he was completely covered in the foul liquid.

' _Please, I need this to work! I don't care how much it hurts me, just let me save Kacchan!'_

Izuku focused his Quirk harder than he ever had before, grasping at every scrap of flame he could reach, which it turned out was quite a lot, and drew it all towards himself as he grabbed hold of the Villain's amorphous body with both of his hands.

The fire that had been consuming the nearby buildings bore down on the Flame Magnet user like a tidal wave straight from the depths of hell itself. In front of him, to his left, to his right, there was fire everywhere, and it was going to consume both him and the villain he was clinging onto. His only hope was that the unintentional protection the Villain's body was providing to Kacchan would be enough to protect him from the inferno. Izuku knew he had no such hope, so he closed his eyes and screamed out with all of his might, waiting for the pain that was to come.

And come it did, but not in the form he was expecting. A sudden explosion caught Izuku in the gut and sent him flying away from the Villain with its concussive force. His control of his Quirk vanished, but the fire was too plentiful and moving far too quickly for it to dissipate before reaching its target.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A ball of fire had engulfed the Sludge Villain, and it was clearly not immune. It writhed in pain and rage before making a large sweeping motion with one of it's oversized limbs and dispersing the conflagration. There were patches of discoloration all over it and smoke was rising from various places, but the Villain was clearly not out of the game yet.

Izuku forced himself to his feet from where he was sprawled on the street from where Kacchan's desperate explosion had sent him. He glanced from side to side, taking in the situation. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins like never before and his mind was somehow crystal clear. He felt like the world was moving in slow motion around him and his limbs were filled with electricity.

Izuku's lips gradually spread and bared his teeth in a smile that would look immediately familiar to anyone who had watched a particular video on the internet before.

"It's going to be alright, Kacchan! I'm here for you!"

"You little…how dare you...HOW DARE YOU!" The Sludge Villain rushed at Izuku with rage-filled eyes, "I'M GOING TO BLOW YOU TO PIECES WITH YOUR OWN FRIEND'S QUIRK! DIE!"

Izuku ran to meet the Villain as he once again reached out to the fires around him, having come nowhere close to depleting them the first time.

"Let's see you try it! I won't let you have my friend, and I won't let you have anyone else either! I'll take you down with me if it's the last thing I do, NOW SHUT UP AND BURN!"

"I couldn't have said it better myself, my boy. I should really practice what I preach. Now grab onto me."

There, in front of him, facing the approaching Sludge Villain and the wall of fire was the Symbol of Peace. His breathing was heavy, and blood was running from his mouth, but he was there, arm cocked back in one of his signature poses while the other arm was plunged into the body of the Villain, grabbing hold of Bakugo.

"A Pro should always be ready to risk his life! DETROIT SMASH!"

All Might's fist swung downward towards the road, blasting a large chunk of it away as the raw concussive force of the attack created a massive updraft, which resulted in a pillar of fire twisting its way skyward as the Sludge Villain blew apart, leaving Bakugo without a single mark on him.

For a moment, all present just stared at the result of All Might's power, and then it started to rain.

A single swing of All Might's fist had changed the weather from the air pressure he had generated. As the remaining fires were gradually extinguished, Izuku's adrenaline rush left him and his legs gave out. He plopped down on the ground a short distance away from Kacchan and waited for the storm of activity to subside.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

It didn't take as long for them to be let go as Izuku thought it would. The Heroes had gathered up the pieces of the Sludge Villain and turned them over to the police, and the main concern with the two boys was just making sure they were uninjured. It turned out that Katsuki had pulled some of the ligaments and tendons in his legs earlier from when he had apparently fought the Villain by himself when it initially attacked him. Izuku was amazed as his friend explained the encounter to the officers and Heroes. A couple of Heroes looked like they wanted to recruit him right then and there, but of course they couldn't because he was unlicensed.

Then it was Deku's turn. The Heroes really didn't seem to know what to make of him. Death Arms in particular scolded him for being so reckless and endangering himself the way he did. After his short lecture, they told Izuku to go home. He wanted to stick around until they let Kacchan go too, but decided it was probably a better idea not to argue with the Heroes and policemen.

Izuku was kind of bummed that he hadn't had the chance to apologize to All Might though. Even if everything had turned out alright in the end, he had still screwed up big time and needed to take responsibility for that. He could always send him a letter or make a post on his website or something, but it just felt so insincere that way…

"Oi, Deku!"

Deku immediately spun around as Bakugo's voice rang out from behind him. The Explosion Quirk user was walking steadily towards him, looking a bit short of breath. Apparently, his legs weren't so hurt that he couldn't walk on his own, which was good to know. Once he was close enough that he didn't have to yell quite so loudly, he started speaking again.

"You moron! You would've fucking torched yourself if I hadn't been there to save your dumb ass! And what the hell was with those lines?! 'I'll take you down with me if it's the last thing I do?!' Don't give me that shit! If you're seriously gonna try out for U.A., you'd better work on making yourself less pathetic!"

Izuku was getting chewed out left, right and center today. As usual though, his friend was right.

"Yeah. Sorry about that Kacchan, I just didn't know what else to do."

"Yeah, well, as long as you understand. Troublesome bastard. I'm going home." Katsuki turned around and started heading home, leaving Midoriya to turn around as well and continue on his previous path.

"I am here!" suddenly All Might appeared out of nowhere, skidding to a stop from around a nearby corner.

"Wha- All Might?! Why are you here? Weren't you surrounded by reporters?"

"Ha ha ha! Shaking them off is nothing to me, after all I'm All Mi- ***hurk*** " With a puff of steam and a spray of blood from his mouth, All Might transformed back into his normal state.

"Ahh! H-Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Anyway, Kid. I was looking for you. I need to thank you and apologize."

"Huh? That's my line!"

"I was there, you know. I saw that scene taking place but I was convinced I couldn't do anything. Then I remembered your story and I realized that at that moment I was feeling that exact same way. Powerless to help, in spite of my Quirk." All Might coughed a few times before continuing, "It was pure hypocrisy. I was nothing but fake muscles and insincerity."

"What? No! It was all my fault from the start! I got in your way, I made you drop those bottles, and then I just went charging in and-"

"Exactly! Of all the people that were there on the sidelines, watching and waiting, it was only you who stepped up and took action! It was because of you, and your willingness to sacrifice yourself to save others, that I was able to act!"

There was nothing that Izuku could say to that. He stood, dumbfounded, his eyes beginning to well up at the praise he was receiving from his idol.

"Did you know? Most of the top Heroes show signs of greatness even as children. Many of them will tell stories about how their bodies simply moved before they even had a chance to think! That is what happened to you back there, right?"

"Y-yes…"

"It is not a question of whether or not you can be a Hero, my boy. Why?" Izuku fell to his knees as his tears began to fall freely. He was hunched over, gripping his chest like he was afraid his heart would explode, "Because you already have the makings of an excellent Hero! And I believe…" All Might took a knee and placed his hands on Izuku's shoulders, causing the boy to look up at him, "…that you are worthy of inheriting my power!"

"Huh?"

"What's with that clueless look on your face? It's not like I'm just going to hand it over you know, you'll have to earn it! It'll be absolute hell, but I'm asking you if you want to try accepting my power!"

What All Might was suggesting was absolutely ludicrous. It made no sense whatsoever.

"This concerns my Quirk, kid, so listen closely. Tabloids and various online discussion boards have all tried to guess what my Quirk is, but I've always avoided the question in interviews and the like. The reason for this is that All Might, the Symbol of Peace, must keep the impression of being a natural-born Hero." The thin man stood and spread his arms wide, "The truth is that my Quirk was passed down to me. Like the Olympic torch."

"Passed down? Really?"

"Yes. And now it just might be your turn."

A million different things flooded through Izuku's head at that point. Theories, points, counter-points, obscure facts, and all kinds of other things. There was only one thing he was actually able to say though:

"Y-you can't be s-serious!"

"Oh? You really doubt me that much? Don't mess with me! I may have many secrets, but I never lie! This Quirk of mine, with the ability to transfer power, was passed down to me! It's name is One For All!"

"One…For All?"

"It works by stockpiling power, and it evolves with each person it is passed on to. It is continually refined, passed on, and refined even further!"

"Okay, but…why me?"

This question caused All Might to waggle a finger at him.

"I've been searching for a successor for quite a while now, you know. And I think that, from what I saw today, you are worthy! You may be a fanboy with a volatile Quirk, but back there you were more heroic than anyone else! Of course," All Might shrugged and shook his head slightly, "it all depends on what you say. I'm not going to force this on you if you don't want to. So let's have it! What do you say?"

The amount of faith All Might had just put in Izuku was overwhelming. All of the man's greatest secrets on the table, as well as offering him his power? Was there any reason at all for him to decline?

No. There wasn't.

"Yes, I accept."

All Might grinned at his potential successor.

"A quick, decisive answer. I expected nothing less."

* * *

 **There! That should answer the most popular question I've been receiving. Yes, Izuku will still be receiving One For All. It won't be quite the same as in canon though.**

 **Now I can see myself getting a few questions about the level of physical strength that Bakugo displayed here. It is actually canon that he has above average physical strength. A good example would be when Izuku tried firing off one of his Grenade Bracers and nearly dislocated his arm, while Katsuki can use them without any apparent recoil.**

 **If you have not yet voted for the Battle Trial, then make sure you do that. A description of what's going on with that is in the ending Author's Notes for Chapter Two.**

 **With that, I'mma go take a break.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5: I Don't Wanna Just Pass

**That one week break was just what the doctor ordered after that initial four-chapter spurt, and hey, I still made it a week before the deadline.**

 **And guess what? After just over a week this story has 55 Favorites and 84 Follows. And we haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet. You guys kick ass.**

 **Review time:**

 **Plasma Dragon 312: The thing is...he totally would. Bakugo with One For All would be god-tier. Full stop. Also, bear in mind that Izuku only really started training seriously ten months before the entrance exam. Bakugo has likely been training his whole life. Every time he sets off an explosion, that's kickback he needs to deal with. Even if he just ran around going boom all day, that's a hell of a workout for his upper body. He's not called a prodigy for nothing.**

 **Yukio Mustang: Thank you. I hope this lives up to your expectations.**

 **Legion's Gurdian: Thank you. I'm excited to get to the Entrance Exams too. We're gonna see what Izuku can really do, I promise you that.**

 **Silenthawk170: Hey, thank YOU. I really enjoy answering people's questions because it forces me to really show that I understand something. If I don't, then I drop everything right then and there and research it. It's a really good exercise for me.**

 **RandomDude: I'm glad you like the slightly different dynamic between them. Things will normalize a bit as they get used to each other, but I knew that initial meeting had to be different. Believe it or not that fight scene was a spur-of-the-moment thing. It is not in my notes at all, but I thought to myself: "Bakugo really went down like a punk in canon. Let's give him a chance to show what he's got." and I had a hell of a time writing it too. As for Izuku's Quirk: he can only attract. He can turn off the attraction and then try to get out of the way, sure, but he runs the risk of the fire going out prematurely and being useless. Now, if he managed to have a target _between_ himself and a fire... As for One For All, you will see. It will not be as simple as "he has two Quirks." There will be synergy between the two.  
**

 **Battle Trial: Yeah don't worry about it getting THAT crazy. I was only ever going to randomize the pairings and matchups, not costumes, powers or anything like that. As for USJ, no way is that going to play out the same way as in canon either, don't worry. I will be constantly trying to make little things different at the very least.**

 **Gokuu the Carrot: Katsuki is crazy strong. He has a Quirk tailor-made for battle and he knows how to use it. All Might even alludes to his prowess during the Bakugo+Izuku vs. All Might fight when Katsuki wonders how Izuku is catching up to him so quickly. "A Level 50 power cannot improve at the same rate as a Level 1 power." Now, I don't mean to say that Katsuki is fifty times stronger than Izuku, because he sure as hell isn't, but there is a gap there. Hell, Izuku needed to resort to 8% Full Cowl just to keep up with him in their fight, and he _still_ lost.**

 **Shiranai Atsune: That is more or less the plan. You will see.**

 **arinst2305: Thank you. I hope you continue to enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter Five: I Don't Wanna Just Pass

It had been two days since Izuku Midoriya had committed to becoming All Might's successor. The Number One Hero had told him to meet up at Dagobah Beach at 6AM to begin his training, and that he would have more details ready for him by then.

" _I just need a couple of days to work some things out. This was a rather unexpected turn of events after all, my boy."_

" _I-I'm sorry for inconveniencing you."_

" _Don't be absurd. If all goes well the end result will be more than worth it. Besides, all this will take from_ me _is time and patience;_ you'll _be doing all the heavy lifting. Ah, that reminds me: I have a small homework assignment for you."_

" _Y-you do?"_

" _Yes, my boy. You see, I do not know much at all about your Quirk apart from the basics that I witnessed earlier. I want you to compile a report on your Quirk. Every little detail you can think of. Strengths, weaknesses, and ways you could improve it. This will help me fine-tune your training plan. Can you do that for me?"_

" _Of course! It's actually a hobby of mine to keep notes about Quirks, so that won't be a problem. I probably already have it all written down somewhere so copying it for you would be easy!"_

Izuku had, true to his word, come with a document several pages long detailing every little thing he could think of about his Quirk: How he had first realized he had it, how he'd learned to use it over the years, pros, cons, potential strategies, ways he could possibly make it better, everything. All Might, currently in his muscle form, had thanked him for his hard work, taken the document, and was currently sitting down and examining it closely.

"I must say my boy, you certainly have a way with words. Everything here is incredibly detailed yet also easy to understand. You must be popular with your classmates, especially around exam time."

"Hnnnnggghhhh!"

All Might's perch also just so happened to be on top of a large abandoned metal cabinet that Izuku just so happened to be trying to haul across the beach towards the pickup truck All Might had brought with him to haul the garbage away. Midoriya was having absolutely no noticeable success with this task, however.

"Yes, yes. And what a nice place to sit and read while the sun comes up! Some movement would make it nicer though."

Eventually, the young man had to take a breather and collapsed on the sand.

"Haah…Geez, All Might, come on! You weigh like six hundred pounds just on your own!"

"Actually I've lost some weight. I'm down to about five sixty-two, in this form anyway."

"Why am I dragging this garbage across the beach anyway?"

An apt question, as this particular section of beach could at first glance have been mistaken for a garbage dump. It hadn't always been this way, but the strange currents of the area had washed a good deal of the garbage up on the shore over time, and illegal dumping had taken care of the rest.

"Because you are an ill-suited vessel for my power."

"What?! B-but you said I was worthy before!"

"In spirit and mind, certainly, but to put it simply my boy, your body is not ready."

Upon receiving a blank, if not mildly scandalized, look in response, the Symbol of Peace continued:

"I suppose I should explain my Quirk in a little more detail so you understand. I mentioned before that One For All works by stockpiling power from each user and passing that power on to the next. For me, this manifested itself as increased physical abilities, and you will likely experience at least some of this for yourself, but there is no telling what _else_ might happen because of your own Quirk."

"What does Flame Magnet have to do with this? If I'm just receiving your Quirk, then shouldn't it be a separate thing?"

"No, my boy! One For All evolves over time. The myriad abilities that I possess were not originally part of it. At first, it was a quirk for stockpiling power and passing it on to others, nothing more. That power was given shape by those who received it. I have strength, yes, but also speed, heightened senses, my ability to transform as I do, increased tolerance for pain, increased durability, and more besides! One for All is a living, breathing thing molded by the Quirks and essences of those who came before. You might even say their souls live on within it! This is their legacy…and mine. The crystallization of power that these Heroes have poured their souls into so that they may better help those who cannot help themselves. In other words, One For All! You see?"

"That's…really cool, All Might," and it was. It was mind-boggling for the young Midoriya that All Might was willing to give him something so precious, something with such a legacy behind it. Even so, "but that still doesn't really explain why I'm hauling garbage."

All Might was silent for a moment, still caught in the inspiring pose that he had adopted during his speech. Indeed, now that he thought about it he really hadn't answered the boy's question. Maybe he should get a self-help book on how to explain things and teach people? That might come in handy, especially with what was coming up later…but that was later.

"To put it simply, my boy, if you tried to use my power now your limbs would probably pop right off of your body."

"My limbs?!"

"Think of it like trying to force too much air into a balloon or having a glass vessel with too much water pressure. Eventually something has to give."

"Okay…so…I'm here to train my body…and hauling the trash is just incidental?"

"Nothing is incidental, my boy! Every single part of your training will have a purpose. This section of the beach has been like this for years, you know. Nobody can afford to pay to have it cleaned, and nobody wants to spend the time and effort to do it themselves." All Might hopped off of the cabinet, placed one massive hand on top of it, and began to push downwards, "The young Heroes today only want fame and glory, but at it's heart, being a Hero is all about volunteer work!" The metal bent and groaned as All Might's arm relentlessly moved downward like a hydraulic press, "No matter how unglamorous, no matter how dirty or dull, and no matter how time-consuming or dangerous. Whether it's pulling someone from a burning building or helping get a kitten out of a tree, a Hero will be there. Never forget this."

With a mighty slam, the cabinet was mashed downwards with such force that various nearby pieces of debris were blown away and it now resembled and oversized crushed beer can. The rising sun was revealed to Izuku in its full glory, enveloping his idol in a golden halo against the backdrop of the newly-revealed section of ocean.

"Let's bring back this beautiful ocean view! This will be the first step on your path to becoming a Hero!"

"But…but it's so much! How can I do this? I still have school and…and-"

"Midoriya. You want to get into U.A., right?"

"Of course I do! _You_ went to U.A., and it's the best Hero school there is!"

"Well I've got news for you, my boy. The reason U.A. is the best is because its Hero Course is the toughest there is! As you are now you couldn't even hope to pass the practical portion of the entrance exam!"

"Yeah…yeah! I get it now, All Might!" Izuku had risen to his feet without even realizing it, everything was starting to make sense to him now, "I've got ten months before the entrance exam, so I've gotta mold my body into a suitable vessel by then. And by doing that, I'll make myself better on a basic level too!"

"Indeed!" All might produced a stack of papers different from the one that Izuku had previously given him, "That's what this is for! My self-designed 'Pass the Test American Dream Plan!' You can chart your entire lifestyle with this! It will help you clean up the garbage and then some!"

Midoriya flipped through it, marveling at the sheer amount of detail.

"This…this is incredible! You've accounted for everything! A meal plan, working school into it, practicing with my Quirk, even how much sleep I get!"

All Might clapped his protégé on the back and knelt down to look at him seriously.

"To be frank, this'll be super tough. I wasn't kidding before when I said this training would be hell, so I need to know, clearly and definitively: can you do this?"

"Well, of course I can! I already know that I have to work way harder than everyone else to make it. The incident two days ago showed me once and for all that my Quirk just isn't suited for combat situations, and it's all I have right now. I need to be better. No, I _will_ be better!"

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Enji Todoroki, aka Endeavor, aka the Number Two Hero, was bored.

This did not often happen, as he was a very busy man. He did not become the Hero with the highest number of solved cases and prevented crimes by being a layabout. Even when there was not field work to be done, being a well-known and influential public figure often saw him being subject to interviews, public appearances, and the like. In the event that neither of those first two things were immediately pressing, Enji would do paperwork, research, or even get the odd bit of training in. Hell, sometimes he would indulge in a small glass of whiskey in the evenings, he was human after all. Never too much though. A Hero needed to always be ready for anything.

Endeavor was doing none of these things at the moment. The recent appearance of All Might had driven the local crime rate into the ground, which always happened when that overinflated showman saw fit to come to his part of town. There were not currently any major demands for him to be anywhere for interviews, ad deals, public awareness speeches, or the like. Again, this was likely due to the media's attention still being on the recent All Might incident. Whenever that man saw fit to so much as scratch his ass in public the media would talk about it for a minimum of three days, and could stretch it out into a week if news was slow. This part Enji did not mind so much, as the media usually annoyed him anyway. Let the golden boy have the attention for all he cared.

Even his paperwork was taken care of, as he had hammered it all out over the course of the last couple days, having nothing else to do with his time at the office. He had nothing currently pressing that needed his investigation, and he had already gotten his training routine done for the day using his building's on-site gym that he kept so that his Sidekicks and even the other staff could stay in shape. He preferred his personal setup at home, of course, but he would use the agency's gym from time to time. It was good for morale to see the big man doing reps with everyone else, flame-proof towel draped over his shoulders as he took a swig from his water bottle.

All of this aside, it was also far, far too early in the day for him to be drinking. He didn't need people starting those kinds of rumors. So there Endeavor sat, chair turned so he could look out over the cityscape from his office window, pondering whatever happened to cross his mind.

One such thought was of his son, a popular topic for the mind of any parent, and his scholastic status. Shoto was in his final year of middle school, and would thereafter be attending U.A., just like his father before him. Indeed, he would be attending without even having to take the entrance exams. His grades were good, his Quirk was fantastically powerful even if he refused to use it properly, and his father was Endeavor. The boy would be getting one of the four spots the school kept in reserve for recommendations each year, and that was that. He would likely be the most powerful boy in his class, if not the entire school in due time, and this would all serve as a stepping stone on his way to becoming the Number One Hero who would replace All Might.

Yes, everything was going according to plan on that front. His son's rebellious nature would be tempered by time and experience, and he would come around to his father's way of thinking soon enough. Enji remembered being quite the spitfire himself back in his youth, in more ways than one. Pity the fool that tried to give Enji Todoroki a swirly. He still had the yearbook that showed the poor sap without any eyebrows.

After allowing himself a brief trip down Nostalgia Lane, Endeavor picked up a seemingly random memo from his desk that had been given to him just that morning by one of his senior staff. It stated that he had sent his boss an email with the link to a particular video on the internet that he thought he might find interesting, though it was nothing important if he was too busy. Incinerating the note in a puff of flames, the Number Two Hero, being decidedly _not_ busy at the moment, located the email in question and clicked the link.

The aspect ratio and shaky camera revealed to Todoroki immediately that this was a video that had been shot with someone's cell phone. The overall quality was decent, and this particular individual had a position that allowed him to record in spite of the dense crowd around him. Enji recognized Heroes darting around, trying to keep the crowd back. Among them he saw Death Arms, Kamui Woods and Backdraft, the last of which was currently trying to put out one of the massive fires that were burning all around.

Further in the distance, he could also make out a Villain that had been making headlines along with All Might the past couple days.

"Tch. It's just another recording of All Might showing off, I don't need to watch this."

Just when Enji was about to close out of the video, he saw a boy break away from the crowd and charge the Villain. He had not seen this part before. All of the other recordings he had seen had been taken after All Might arrived on the scene.

Todoroki watched with fascination as the foolishly brave young man stunned the Villain by throwing his backpack at it, and charged in with reckless abandon, desperately trying to reach the other boy that was trapped. Once he had managed to let the other boy take a breath and said something to him that Enji could not hear, he covered the captured boy up again, which didn't make sense…

…Until the flames surrounding the group suddenly started to converge on the boy and, by extension, the Sludge Villain. The boy was thrown clear by an explosion to the gut from the captured boy, and the Villain was engulfed in flames that dissipated after only a few moments, but left their mark on it nonetheless.

Endeavor watched as the boy regained his feet and met the Villain's charge while shouting at the top of his lungs, more flames converging on him from the surrounding blaze.

" _I'M GOING TO BLOW YOU TO PIECES WITH YOUR FRIEND'S OWN QUIRK! DIE!"_

" _Let's see you try it! I won't let you have my friend, and I won't let you have anyone else either! I'll take you down with me if it's the last thing I do, NOW SHUT UP AND BURN!"_

"That was well said." Enji mused to himself just as All Might showed up to save the day, fashionably late as always. That boy had steel in him, he and his friend both. It took a special kind of grit to have the presence of mind to get his friend clear of the conflagration when he himself was being body-jacked and suffocated.

"A pyrokinetic type, huh? And from his friend's reaction, not immune to his own flames…I must admit, that's a new one." Indeed, if this was true, and the boy was vulnerable to his own Quirk, then the amount of resolve he possessed was even higher than the Flame Hero had thought.

"The resolve to sacrifice everything, and at such a young age too. Hmm…Maybe I should request some recordings from the next U.A. entrance exams?" Both boys would be aiming for U.A., of that he was certain as he read a police report wherein the first boy's friend, he had discovered his name was Katsuki Bakugo, detailed his initial encounter with the Sludge Villain and how he had attempted to fight it off. Power and combat instincts like that, combined with Heroic Instinct like the other boy? There was no way they wouldn't apply. Their desire to be Heroes was obvious.

Yes, Endeavor would have to keep an eye on them. They could become powerful allies of justice in the future if they played their cards right.

Plus, they would likely end up being his son's classmates and who could blame a father for wanting to know about his son's peers?

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Dude. What the fuck have you been doing to yourself?"

It had been two months since Izuku had started his training with All Might in earnest and he had been having trouble staying awake in class. It wasn't really affecting his grades any, since he already knew most of the material and could take decent notes even when half-unconscious, but damned if he didn't feel like absolute hell. He must have looked like it too because _Kacchan_ of all people was expressing concern.

"Oh, you know, Ka-*yawn*-cchan, I've been doing like you suggested. I'm training hard so I can be better and get into U.A. on my own merits."

There wasn't really much for Katsuki to say about that. He had told Deku to buckle down and man up, and it sounded like he was doing just that. Good for him.

"Just make sure you don't kill yourself doing it. You can't be my Sidekick if you die. I'm not hauling your carcass around and beating people with it just to give you some beyond-the-grave wish fulfillment."

"Yeah, I *yawn* got it."

"I was gonna ask if you wanted to hang out later, but your zombie-looking ass would just make me wanna take a nap. Go home and go the fuck to sleep, Deku. Christ."

"I'm fine. Oh, but I probably won't be able to hang out much in the near future. I've got this plan and I'm sticking to it. It'll pay off when all's said and done, but it doesn't leave me much time for anything else. Sorry."

"Whatever. Not like I care. I mean it though, get some goddamn sleep. If you conk out in the middle of class, I'm not waking your ass up."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Leaves. Dirt. Pain. Exhaustion. The most complete exhaustion Izuku Midoriya had ever felt in his life.

It had been seven months since Izuku had started his training with All Might. Much to his surprise, after the first few months he had started to get used to his training regime. His routine no longer made him feel completely dead after he finished it, and he was actually able to start functioning normally in class again.

The logical thing to do, therefore, was to ratchet up the training on his own. He started bringing a grip trainer with him to classes, adding an extra set to his workouts, and other such things. He figured that since he was getting a feel for what he could handle, he could just push himself harder without consequences.

He was wrong.

The reason for this was rather simple: All Might's "Pass the Test American Dream Plan" was a 24/7 life plan. Everything was accounted for, including the fact that while at school he would be resting his body, and that his exercises would take a specific amount of time on average, which would allow him a baseline amount of sleep each night. By increasing the amount of exercise, and thus time spent not sleeping and recovering, Izuku had thrown his whole equilibrium out of whack, and as a result had collapsed flat on his face during a November run with All Might.

The emaciated Pro Hero had immediately realized what was wrong and was currently reading Midoriya the Riot Act as the young man dragged himself across the ground with his arms towards his idol and was currently trying to push himself up off the ground.

"Overdoing it is no good either! Don't you wanna pass?!"

"Of course…I do. I do, but…but I don't wanna _just_ pass! I have to work harder than anyone else to make it! I knew that right from the start! I _said_ that right from the start! I'll never catch up to the other applicants, to Kacchan, if I don't give it everything I have! But there's more to it than that. I don't want to _just_ catch up!" Izuku forced his head up off of the ground and gazed up at All Might, his face distorted with strain and determination, "I want to be like you! The strongest Hero…just like you!"

"My goodness…you really are a hopeless fanboy aren't you?" All Might bulked up with a puff of steam and picked his protégé up by the back of his jacket with one hand, "Such dumb zeal, but lucky for you I'm a sucker for that kind of thing! That's exactly the kind of thing I like to hear! I understand, Midoriya my boy. This old man understands more than most what it is you are striving to be, so this old man will modify the plan for you. Do not worry!"

"You're not an old man, All Might…you're like, in your forties."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

A raw, primal cry split the morning sky as the first rays of the sun revealed to All Might the silhouette of his shirtless protégé standing atop a fresh stack of refuse and screaming his heart out to the heavens. The reason for this was immediately clear:

The entire beach was clean. It was three hours before the U.A. entrance exams were slated to begin, and the entire beach was clean.

"You…you picked up every last speck of garbage." The thin man was visibly trembling with excitement, "You went above and beyond, and you made it just in time. Oh my…oh my…" All Might burst into his muscular form, "goodness!"

The Symbol of Peace rushed over and caught his protégé as he fell from atop the pile, setting him down gently on his feet.

"Well done."

"All Might…I…did it. I did it!"

"You certainly did, my boy! Here, look at this!"

All Might showed Izuku his phone, on which was a picture of the boy on the ground, looking for all the world weak and helpless. Not a speck of muscle visible on his body.

"What's this?"

"This is you ten months ago, my boy."

The Pro Hero then gestured with one hand up and down Izuku's body in front of him.

"Excellent work. Truly!"

Midoriya looked at himself, truly looked, for the first time in ten months. He wasn't sure when it had happened, he had not even been conscious of it happening, but his eyes did not lie to him.

Muscle. Pure, defined, chiseled muscle. He was compact, as opposed to large like All Might, who had muscles that would make Mr. Olympia jealous, but as he examined himself, he realized he preferred this. His muscles were dense and functional. He doubted they would show overly much when he was wearing normal clothing, and he was happy about this, since it would minimize the amount of unwanted attention he would get.

"Congratulations, Midoriya my boy. The path forward has become clearer along with the waterfront. You are now a fit vessel for One For All!"

Izuku couldn't help himself. The trademark Midoriya waterworks started up as he choked out his next words.

"I feel like I cheated…getting all this help from you, All Might. I…I've truly been blessed…"

All Might let his protégé have a moment, privately thinking to himself that he barely did anything. The boy had put forth the effort and then some, and this was the result. He'd earned this, and the Number One Hero would never let anyone say otherwise. After a moment, he slapped his pupil on the back.

"Alright, enough of that. You really need to stop being such a crybaby! It's time for your award ceremony, Izuku Midoriya!"

All Might drew himself up to his full considerable height, and plucked a single hair from one of his long bangs.

"You know, there is a saying…I forget exactly how it goes, but the gist of it is this: There's a big difference between being born with that silver spoon in your mouth and working your butt off to earn it! So, take this to heart, my boy, and don't ever forget: You've earned this power fair and square."

The Symbol of Peace held out the golden strand of hair between his fingers towards Izuku.

"Now eat this."

"…Buh?"

"It doesn't really matter what it is as long as you eat some of my DNA! Now hurry up! The entrance exam starts in three hours!"

* * *

 **I was originally intending to gloss over the training and get straight to the entrance exams this chapter, but I'm glad I didn't. I just felt like I could have a couple scenes here and there, and it turned into a full chapter. I know I did not go into detail about Izuku's Quirk training, and that is on purpose! You will see what he can do next time.**

 **And we got our first look at Endeavor and what he's up to! Took five chapters but by golly we got there. Ochako next chapter and then all four tagged characters will have made their debut!**

 **A quick note about the entrance exams: In canon they only show the practical, and it is strongly implied that the written portion took place at some unspecified point before this day, though this is never actually shown or discussed. I'm making them the same day. Written portion first, then practical, because A) that just makes the most sense to me and B) I have a scene or two planned out that works better with things being this way.**

 **Also, for the purposes of having a timeline to refer to, I am using this one by Reddit user chaotickairos: (reddit dot com slash** **r slash BokuNoHeroAcademia slash comments slash 7266e0 slash an_unofficial_timeline_of_bnha slash). Those of you that want to take the time to recompile that link can have a look at it yourselves, or you can just do a Google search for "My Hero Academia Timeline" and it should be one of the first few links.**

 **We've got a few votes in for the Battle Trial, and I'm starting to get a sense for which direction to take it, but if you haven't voted yet, there is still time! Details about this are in the closing Author's Notes for Chapter Two.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6: Smash And Burn

**Three day weekend, woo! Happy Memorial Day for those of you in the U.S.**

 **This is a chapter I've wanted to get to since I started writing this, and it's the longest one yet!**

 **Review time:**

 **Aguion12: Well, it's never explicitly stated, but to me it just makes sense. It's established that All Might has strength, speed, durability, heightened senses, what seems to be an increased tolerance for pain, and more besides. To me, that's just way too OP for it to be the work of a single Quirk, but here we have a Quirk that's been passed down through eight people, of which Izuku is the ninth, and it's explicitly stated that it evolves over time, so this just makes sense to me. Plus, it works well for the purposes of this fic.**

 **Not Stale Bread: Your vote has been noted. And yeah, I'm definitely striving to shake things up a bit here. I hate word-for-word rehashes of canon, and I am seeking to avoid them whenever possible.**

 **Legion's Gurdian: Your vote has been noted. Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying it. I like writing downtime stuff like that too, especially now that we're getting to the good stuff. Calm before the storm indeed.**

 **Addles28: That question will be answered, at least in part, by this chapter! It's kind of both. This will be mechanically explained later on.**

 **wildtrance: You know, it's funny to me that everyone knows Izuku will be eating fire even though he hasn't actually done it yet. That'll definitely be something to explore though. I can totally see a character like Denki asking him that.**

 **RandomDude: At least one of those questions will be answered in this chapter for sure. And yeah, that's a conversation that will have to happen at some point. Most likely he'll be confronted about it after the Quirk Assessment if he hasn't told him by then, though I do drop a hint about it in this chapter.  
**

 **Enji. It really, really bugs me how he's portrayed in the Anime/Manga. He comes off as so one-dimensional and I know that every character has more to them than that. He's not a nice guy, to be sure, but he IS a Hero, and that counts for something. I'm really looking forward to doing more with him.**

 **I'll admit that some of those do happen, but hopefully the differences here will be enough to still make it special. Thank you for the compliments as well. I'm really trying to make everything feel natural here. I don't want anything to come off as forced.**

 **Gokuu the Carrot: It might be a bit more obvious in the manga than the anime, but yeah. Katsuki a beast. Also, your wait is over, for a chapter is here!**

 **Blizzardfang: Thank you. I hope you continue to feel that way.**

 **Kneck: Thank you. It always means a lot to me when someone says that. I hope you continue to like it!**

 **Now, without further ado, a chapter a lot of you have been waiting for!**

* * *

Chapter Six: Smash And Burn

Izuku Midoriya was having a very eventful day. It wasn't even noon yet, and the main event was yet to come, but his mind was already reeling from the morning's occurrences.

He had rushed home, showered, gathered his things, said a quick goodbye to his mother, and boarded the subway. His trip to U.A. was set to take about forty minutes, and he took that time to mull over what All Might had told him after he had nearly forced one of his hairs down Izuku's throat.

" _Guh! *hack* Bleh!"_

" _Ah, my apologies, Midoriya my boy, but we really don't have time for Twenty Questions right now. Here, have some water."_

 _All Might handed Izuku a bottle of water to help him chase down the hair, and continued speaking as he gulped it down._

" _You won't feel anything for about two or three hours, that's normal. Honestly my boy, I have no idea how One For All might interact with your existing Quirk. The only advice I can think to give you is to dig deep and scream out from the very depths of your heart! Follow your instincts and One For All should do the rest."_

" _You, ah, don't have anything more specific than that? How did_ you _figure out how to use it?"_

" _I? Well, I found that all I had to do was clench my butt cheeks and cry out 'Smash!'"_

" _Oh, is that why all of your attacks have 'Smash' in them somewhere?"_

" _That is part of it, yes. Also, it helps me visualize my different Super Moves and just sounds really, really cool."_

Izuku couldn't deny that it did, in fact, sound really, really cool when All Might let loose with his Super Moves. Maybe, if he got into U.A., he could find some time to work on some special techniques of his own? Almost every Hero had at least one, and they were all Super-Special-Awesome with a candy coating made of concentrated Cool Factor and a generous helping of Badass sprinkled on top. At least in his humble opinion.

…And this was his stop and he spent the whole time fanboying about Super Moves and he didn't do any strategizing or reviewing whatsoever and ohdeargodhe'sgoingtofailKacchanhelp.

Wait. Kacchan. He promised to meet up with him before the start of the exams so they could talk strategy and…Izuku had shown up much later than he was planning on. Kacchan would have been on time for something this important, and when Deku hadn't shown up, he would have started going around looking for him.

And most likely he would be pissed. And worried, in his own way, but mostly pissed.

Great. Now not only was Izuku going to fail because he didn't do any last-minute studying but Kacchan wouldn't do as well as he usually would because he would be distracted wondering where his friend was and maybe that would cost him that extra point he needed to pass and ohnoheruinedeverythingthiswasterrible.

It did not occur to Izuku that he came in a very close second place on the mock exam, only below Kacchan, and therefore the paper exam should not be an issue. He was too busy walking in little circles, whipping his head from side-to-side outside of the large building the written portion would be held in, desperately looking for his friend.

"Um, excuse me, are you looking for someone?"

Izuku's head reflexively whipped around at the feminine voice, because there was no way his luck was this bad. Not only was he in full-on Panic Mode, but he was in full-on Panic Mode outside of U.A. Not only that, but he was in full-on Panic Mode, outside of U.A., making a complete ass of himself in front of a very cute girl about his age with brown hair wearing a scarf to stave off the cold February air.

…And now he was staring.

"I, uh, know it's not really any of my business, but you just looked _super_ nervous and it looked like you were looking for someone, so I figured…"

"Ah! I, er, that is…" _deep breaths, Deku,_ "Y-yes. I was s-supposed to meet m-my friend here, but I s-showed up late. I h-have no idea where I'm g-going or where he w-went."

"Oh no! That's terrible! He must be freaking out looking for you! You want me to help you look?"

She looked so genuinely concerned that Izuku couldn't even bring himself to question her.

"I-if it's not too much trouble, t-that would be g-great. I w-wouldn't want to i-inconvenience y-you."

The girl gave him a warm, friendly smile and gripped his shoulder with one hand, steering him towards the building.

"I don't mind, really! Why don't we start by heading for the exam rooms? Everyone has to end up there eventually, so even if he's not there right now, he should be soon, right? We don't have that long until the written portion starts."

The realization that he should have done this _immediately_ upon arrival led to Izuku mentally kicking himself so hard that he forgot to be embarrassed by the physical contact from this girl that he didn't even know.

"Y-yeah. That's a g-good idea."

"So what does this friend of yours look like?"

"Oh! R-right. He has spiky, ash blonde hair, red eyes, and usually looks like he's m-mad about something. Th-though in this case, he p-probably is."

The girl did not respond, simply making a thoughtful noise and starting to look around as the pair entered the building and followed the signs. Of course there would be signs. Izuku felt more and more like an idiot with each passing moment. Really, he should have known that there would be directions, and he should have known to head straight for the exam room. Concerned Kacchan might be, but he would never in a million years miss the entrance exam for U.A. Nor would Midoriya. Worst case scenario would be they just met up during the break between the written portion and the practical portion, and he would apologize to Kacchan then. What the hell was he so worried about? And now he had roped this nice girl into helping him out, even if she said she didn't mind.

"Erm, are you okay? You're mumbling up a storm there."

Of course she heard that. Why would she not have heard that?

"Ah, no, er that is, yes. I'm f-fine. Sorry."

"Nervous tic?"

"S-something like that."

"No sweat. It's a big day for everyone! Of course you're nervous. I am too, honestly. I guess maybe part of the reason I decided to help you was because I was looking for something to distract me. Stop me from worrying as much, you know?"

He could understand that. He could _absolutely_ understand that, and now that he thought about it, she had pretty much taken his initial wave of panic and kicked it straight over the horizon.

"I g-get it, really. Y-you've actually helped me calm down a lot t-too. Th-thank you…?"

"Oh! It's Uraraka. Ochako Uraraka. You're welcome! What's your name?"

"Uraraka-san. Right, m-my name is-"

"DEKU!" Right on cue, Katsuki came marching down the hallway straight towards Izuku and Ochako. The people in the hall parted before him, nobody wanting to get in the way of the man on a mission.

"H-hey, Kacchan. We f-found you!"

"Don't you give me that crap, Deku! Your ass was supposed to be here half an hour ago! What, were you busy sucking face with your girlfriend or something?! That the 'training' you've been doing these past ten months?! EH?!"

It was at this moment that Izuku realized Ochako's hand was still on his shoulder.

"I-it's n-not what it l-looks like! Honest! She was j-just helping me!"

"Helping you? Helping you what? Helping you 'relieve some stress' before the exams?!"

Oh, someone just kill him now.

"Um, if I could cut in here?" Kacchan rounded on Uraraka as she spoke up.

"What?!"

"You really do have it all wrong. We just met, and he was outside looking for his friend, which I guess is you. I offered to help him look, and we headed straight here."

"Then why are you getting all touchy-feely with him?!"

"Honestly? He kept talking to himself on the way here and I was worried he'd bump into something."

"Tch. Wouldn't be the first time."

Seriously. Someone kill him. Right now. Poor Izuku was so embarrassed that it felt like he had a fever.

"Ah, Deku-kun? Are you alright?"

"He's fine! He just needs to get his ass in that exam room before I _throw_ it in there!" Bakugo seizes Izuku and shoves him in the direction of the designated room, "Seriously, talk about cutting it way too fucking close! Exam starts in five minutes dumbass! You gonna let yourself get disqualified by a technicality?!"

Before following Deku, Katsuki turns to Ochako briefly.

"You can talk to him some more once all this crap is done with, Round Face." He then departs, leaving a rather confused Ochako in his wake.

"…Round Face?"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Well that was piss-easy eh, Deku?"

"Yeah, yeah it kinda was."

It hadn't been quite as simple as Kacchan was making it out to be, but Deku was still reasonably certain he had passed it.

"I told you it would be. Bet you still worried yourself stupid about it anyway."

"Yeah, yeah I kinda did. Well, at least until Uraraka-san snapped me out of it."

"Who the fuck is that?"

"The girl I was with."

"Oh, her. You sure she's not your girlfriend?"

"I am v-very sure of that, yes. It's like she t-told you, w-we just met."

"Dude, chill. I'm fucking with you because I'm still kinda pissed at you for making me stand outside U.A. looking like a dumbass. Seriously, what kept you?"

"There was still one thing I had to do to complete my training regimen, and it took more time than I thought it would. Sorry about that."

The pair proceeded towards the auditorium as they had been directed to after the written exam had concluded. Uraraka had taken her test in a different classroom apparently, and was nowhere to be seen at the moment. Kacchan looked thoughtful, and Izuku hoped he wasn't going to ask what he thought he was going to ask.

"Yeah, so this training you've been doing, I could tell when I shoved you into the exam room that you've been working out, but that can't be all you've been doing, right? Quirk nut like you must've been trying out some new tricks. Got anything that works?"

Carefully. Izuku had to answer this question _very_ carefully. He didn't want to lie to his best (and really, only) friend, but he couldn't tell him about what he was really up to all those months either. He had promised All Might, and besides, One For All wasn't his secret to spill. Plus, he had no idea what he could actually do with it yet. Kacchan deserved _some_ kind of answer though.

"Well, yeah. I'm definitely way more fit than I was before, because that just seemed like a really good idea, you know? But you're right: I have been working with Flame Magnet as well. I can actually sort of…focus the attraction point?"

"You can do what?"

"Well, you know how every other time I've used my Quirk it just kind of…attracts fire to my center of mass? Well, I found out that if I really, really focus, I can make it go somewhere else."

"You mean you can send it zooming all over the place now? That's kind of awesome."

"No, no. I can still only attract it to myself, but I can, like, choose which part of my body it gets attracted to. So instead of setting myself entirely on fire, I could just…set my hand on fire."

"That's not as awesome."

"No, no it isn't. I think it has potential though. I've been experimenting with changing the attraction point on-the-fly, which might let me do some neat things, but I still don't really have it down yet." As an after-thought to try and explain any extra things he might discover as a result of One For All, Midoriya quickly tacked on, "And there's something else I've been futzing around with too, but I don't know if it's even possible, so I'd rather not talk about it just in case it ends up being a dead end."

"Whatever."

"So, what have you been up to?"

"I'm bigger, better, and all-around more badass."

"Well, alright then."

"Here, before the practical starts, we should talk strategy. I'm thinking you just follow me around and we'll double-team whatever this is. Probably some sort of combat trial or something is what you were saying, right?"

"Y-yeah. From what I was able to find on the internet, it's usually some kind of live field assessment. But, Kacchan, the thing about that is…"

"What?"

"Well, they'll probably end up separating people that are from the same middle school."

Katsuki actually stumbled slightly upon hearing this.

"Eh? Why the fuck would they do that?!"

"Well, _this_ is why. Just imagine if a whole group of friends applied together and formed a big team. They could steamroll right over whatever the examiners threw at them, and they wouldn't really be able to get a good idea of what each individual can do. These are the kinds of tests that you need to be able to prove your own worth in. If you're just a weak link, then there's nothing to stop you from coasting along on the strength of your teammates. With this, that's impossible."

"But what'll _you_ do then?"

The pair had reached the auditorium at this point and were sitting down, waiting for everyone else to file in so the presentation could begin. Bakugo was looking at his friend with genuine confusion on his face.

"What do you mean, Kacchan?"

"I mean, you're my Sidekick. We work good together, but you don't think you'll be able to just breeze through on your own, do you? It'll get rough, especially if there's anyone in your test group even half as tough as I am, unlikely as that is."

There it was. The same thing that was constantly niggling at the back of Izuku's mind during his training with All Might. The very same feeling that had come to a head when he had collapsed during his training.

Irritation? Defiance? Pride? Deku wasn't sure.

All he knew was that the label of Sidekick didn't sit well with him. Not anymore.

"I'll be fine."

"Deku, that's fine and all, but how can you be sure?"

"What do you think I spent the past ten months training for, Kacchan?" Izuku looked over at his friend and gave him a determined smile, "I have no intention of failing here. Not gonna happen."

Before Katuki could respond, he was interrupted.

"Welcome to today's live performance! Everybody say 'HEY'!"

A powerful voice emanated throughout the auditorium, making the air vibrate in a way that only one voice could. It was Present Mic, the Voice Hero.

Nobody responded to his prompt to say "HEY", likely because of the suddenness of his appearance and the gravity of the situation. Izuku was proceeding to lose his shit next to his long-suffering friend though.

"Oh my god that's Present Mic! I listen to his radio show every week. It's so inspiring! I guess all the U.A. teachers are Pro Heroes but I never really gave it any thought I guess. I mean it makes sense that he'd be here and everything, his personality is right for it, for sure. And-"

"Deku. Shaddup. He's talking."

"Well, that's cool, my examinee Listeners! I'm here to present the guidelines of your practical! ARE YOU READY?! _YEEEEEEEAH_!"

His continued efforts to pump up his audience were met with complete silence, but Present Mic either didn't notice or didn't care.

"This is how the test will go, my Listeners! You'll be experiencing ten-minute-long mock cityscape battles! Bring whatever equipment you want along with you! After this presentation, you'll each head to your assigned testing location! OKAY?!"

Upon looking at the list of names and locations, Izuku and Katsuki found that they were, indeed assigned to different locations. In fact, sequential ID numbers were never in the same place amongst the seven testing grounds.

"Each site is filled with three kinds of Faux Villains. Points are awarded for defeating each kind according to their respective difficulty levels! You've got One-Pointers, Two-Pointers, and Three-Pointers. Easy, right?! Just use your Quirks to disable these Faux Villains and earn points! Get as many as you can! Of course, playing the Antihero and attacking other examinees is prohibited!"

"Excuse me! May I ask a question?!" A rather well-dressed, tall young man with neatly combed hair and glasses had stood up with his hand raised. He proceeded without waiting for an answer, gesturing to the handout they had all received, "There appear to be no fewer than _four_ varieties of Faux Villain on this handout! Such a blatant error, if it is one, is highly unbecoming of U.A. as Japan's top Hero Academy! We're all here today in the hopes of being molded into model Heroes! And you! With the curly hair!" At this he pointed directly at Izuku, making the boy jump, "You've been muttering this whole time…it's distracting! If this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!"

"Sorry…"

"Tch. Told you, Deku."

"Alright alright. Examinee Listener 7111, nice catch. Thanks! But the fourth Faux Villain doesn't get you any points! Zilch! Zero! Nada! He's not meant to be fought so much as he's just an obstacle! Kinda like a Thwomp from those old Super Mario games! There's only one of them at each site, but they're seriously tough! Their sole mission in life is to rampage around and ruin your day, so you should probably just avoid them!"

The young man with glasses bowed sharply before sitting back down.

"Thank you, sir. I apologize for the interruption!"

"That's all from me! I'll leave my Listeners with our school motto. There was once a man who said 'True Heroism consists of being superior to the ills of life.' It won't be easy, and it won't be pretty, but with enough grit and determination, you can overcome anything that stands in your way! Go Beyond! PLUS ULTRA! Break a leg, everyone!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

After a quick trip to the locker rooms to change into gear and clothing more suited to the practical examination, the examinees made their way to their respective testing sites. Izuku was one of the last to arrive at his site, being a nervous wreck.

The reason was simple: he had talked a big game to Kacchan earlier. He had no choice but to follow through on that now, or he'd prove himself wrong in the most definite way possible.

The testing site was another reason. It was as large as a small city, with skyscrapers and everything. The idea that U.A. had at least six more of these on-site was mind-boggling to say the least.

As he scanned the group of prospective students before him, Izuku noticed a familiar head of brown hair.

 _It's Uraraka-san! We're at the same site! I should wish her luck or something. I never did thank her properly for earlier._

As he walked towards where Ochako was standing, eyes closed, doing what looked like some kind of breathing exercise, a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.

"That girl seems to be doing some kind of meditation." A large hand gripped Midoriya's shoulder and spun him around to face the tall young man with glasses from the auditorium, only now instead of wearing a suit, he was wearing a form-fitting tracksuit that revealed his muscular physique. "Why are you here? Hoping to interfere?"

 _Oh god, him too?!_

"Hey that's the kid that was acting like an idiot back at the front gate."

"I guess that's one less rival to worry about, huh?"

"Lucky!"

 _I can't really blame them for thinking that…_

"AND BEGIN!" Present Mic's voice rang out over the landscape from a large tower that overlooked all of the testing sites. From this distance, he was just a small speck on the rooftop, but his Quirk-enhanced voice was loud and clear.

Nobody moved.

"What's wrong?! The test has already started! Clock's ticking, Listeners! Run! RUN! The die is cast!"

By the time Izuku realized what was happening, everyone else had started stampeding into the testing facility. He forced himself to calm down and ran in after them.

 _Gotta find something to use as a weapon. If these are robots, I shouldn't try hitting them with my bare hands. No idea if One For All will enhance_ me _like it does All Might._

Izuku came across a wrecked car and tore the door off, thinking it might make a decent shield if nothing else.

 _Huh. Guess I_ have _gotten stronger. That or the door was loose._

Suddenly, a robot with a single massive wheel, a long neck, and two armor-plated arms with a large '1' painted on them busted through the side of a building close to him, charging full-speed ahead.

"Target locked! Prepare for termination!"

 _One pointers…quick but fragile is what the notes said! Here it comes!_

The one-pointer cocked it's arm back as it charged, preparing to deck Izuku full in the face. He dug in his heels and raised his car door just in time to catch the blow. He felt himself getting pushed back, and with a shout of effort, angled the door to one side and caused the punch to go wide, leaving the body exposed.

Not taking any time to think, Izuku let the momentum of the door carry him in a circle, raising the door above his head, he did the only thing he could think to do.

"SMASH!" The door came down, bifurcating the robot and embedding itself a few inches into the concrete below.

Izuku took a moment to absorb what had just happened before a small grin made its way to his face.

 _That was nowhere near All Might's power, but it'll help! My back muscles feel a little strained, but I think I'll be okay!_

Izuku started to run off before he realized the implications of his newfound power.

"Smash!" He kicked off of the ground with one leg, this leap sending him shooting through the air. He landed on his other leg and, "Smash!" kicked off with that one, creating a sort of exaggerated run cycle that was nonetheless much faster than he could normally move. He felt the kickback in his legs, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He'd get used to it. He had just never used this power before, so of course his body wasn't used to it. But the training had made it _ready_.

Izuku couldn't stop himself from whooping with joy and exhilaration as he flew through the air, grabbing a large piece of rebar with a chunk of concrete on the end of it, spinning around and with another "Smash," knocking another robot's head clean off.

Was this how All Might felt all the time? So… _free_? He zig-zagged towards a two-pointer, which looked like a robotic scorpion, causing it's tail to miss him as he landed on its back and, in a moment of reckless abandon, drove his fist into its neck.

"SMASH!" the two-pointer collapsed, its neck having been broken, and Izuku winced slightly at the impact of his bare knuckles against metal. Not broken, but certainly not pleasant. He would have to make sure his costume had some thick gloves or something.

"Seven minutes remaining!"

Present Mic's voice rang out and jolted Izuku back to his senses. He could think later; now was the time to act.

Izuku threw himself into the melee, using whatever he could find as a weapon in the process. He managed to take down three more one-pointers, another two-pointer, and even a three-pointer when he tricked it into bringing a section of wall down onto itself.

"Alright, twelve."

"Haah…twenty-eight points…" This came from Uraraka as she caused a multitude of robots to fall from the sky onto the ground. Apparently her Quirk involved either telekinesis or gravity manipulation.

"Hah! Forty-five points!" This was the glasses-wearing boy from earlier. He moved with incedible speed, and it looked like he had exhaust ports coming out of his oversized calves.

"Thirty-two!" Another examinee in the background"

 _Crap! This isn't good! We're running out of enemies here, and I took too much time getting used to One For All! They didn't tell us how many Villains there would be, or where they would be placed, but there's no time to comb the entire city looking for them!_

It was at this moment that a nearby skyscraper was entirely demolished by a colossus of steel. A single massive limb was raised up, casting a shadow over the Hero hopefuls present, before slamming down into the street, sending chunks of debris flying everywhere.

Izuku froze. How could he fight that? How could _anyone_ fight that? He knew this must be one of the zero-pointers, so they weren't _supposed_ to fight it, but this was ridiculous!

Everyone else was getting the hell out of dodge, and Izuku was getting ready to follow them, but then he heard a sound that froze him in his tracks and made his blood run cold.

"Oww…"

No. There was no way. That shouldn't be allowed. But sure enough, there was Ochako, on the ground, her legs pinned in place by an exceptionally large chunk of concrete. She was trying to reach a hand back to touch it, but she couldn't, and the Zero would be there in just a few moments.

"Uraraka-san!"

Izuku didn't think. He didn't have time to think, so he _moved._

 _Smash! Smash! Smashsmashsmashsmashsmashsmashsmash!_

He made it to the girl in record time, the Zero was not yet upon them, and he tried to fling the piece of concrete away, but it was too heavy and he thought he might have pulled something in his back.

"Deku-kun, what-"

"I'll get you out of here! Don't worry, Uraraka-san!"

He planted his feet and channeled One For All through his legs, allowing himself to shift the chunk just enough for her to crawl out from underneath it. Ochako tried to get up but she couldn't and there was no more time and there was smoke and debris and fire and _there was no more time._

Fire. There was fire, but what could he _do?!_

" _The only advice I can think to give you is to dig deep and scream out from the very depths of your heart! Follow your instincts and One For All should do the rest."_

Izuku took a deep breath, deeper than any he had ever taken before, and he _pulled_. The surrounding flames converged on his mouth, and he didn't stop. He pulled them in, not knowing what he was doing, pulling in more and more fire until he couldn't inhale anymore, and he cocked his right arm back towards the massive foot that was descending towards him and Ochako.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, feeling his heart pounding in his chest, and time seemed to slow around him. His eyes snapped open, glowing orange like the coals of a brazier instead of his usual green. Flames exploded from his right arm, which was now shot-through with glowing red veins, as if his very blood were burning.

It hurt. It burned. His arm was burning, but it wouldn't last for long. He just needed this one punch, and he couldn't afford to hold anything back. Izuku's fist swung upards in a mighty uppercut and his lips parted, mouth opened wide in a battle cry that came from the very depths of his soul. A cry that he had only uttered once before, those ten months ago when he stood before his own impending destruction, and _refused_ to be the one to blink first:

" **BUUURN!** "

His fist collided with the foot of the Zero, and a gargantuan pillar of flames exploded upwards, blasting the menace backwards with incredible force. It tried to regain its balance, but its foot was destroyed and it started to fall forward towards Izuku, who was currently dealing with a very large amount of physical pain and didn't notice.

"DEKU-KUN!" _*slap*_

A hand collided with Izuku's face and sent him shooting backwards, suddenly feeling weightless. He spun through the air until he collided with a large robot part and stopped dead, still floating. When a body suddenly collided with his chest and made an "Oof" sound, he understood what had happened.

Uraraka had made him weightless and sent him flying before making herself weightless and leaping after him.

As soon as he realized this, there was a titanic crash as the Zero pulverized the ground where the pair of them had just been, smashing its head and ceasing all movement.

"R-release!"

Suddenly gravity existed again and Izuku fell to the ground, groaning as he landed awkwardly on his abused right arm. Ochako landed as well, sprawled across him, her chest on his shoulder and her head behind him.

"Uraraka-san, are you alright?!"

"Bleargh…"

The sound of the girl emptying her stomach all over the ground behind him answered that question rather succinctly in his opinion. He rubbed her back awkwardly with his still-functional left arm, trying to form soothing circles like his mother had done for him before when he was sick. He could feel her taking slow, shuddering breaths, but those gradually evened out. After a few moments, he asked again:

"Uraraka-san, are you alright?"

She struggled for a moment, and he realized she was trying to get up.

"Gotta…get back out there…not over…yet."

He kept making circles on her back.

"That doesn't matter right now."

"Easy…for you to say…power like that…you must have like eighty points…"

"Twelve, actually."

"No way…but, you need to keep going too, Deku-kun! We have to pass this test!"

"I'm afraid I'm done. My arm…"

Ochako managed to push herself into a sitting position, plopping down on the ground in front of Izuku and seeing his condition for the first time.

His right arm was a mess. The sleeve of his track jacket was entirely burned away and his arm was unnaturally twisted and badly burnt.

"Oh my god! Deku-kun, are you okay?!"

"Well, with you and the adrenaline helping me to ignore the pain, I'm okay for the moment." Strangely enough, the pain and adrenaline seemed to be keeping him calm as well. In retrospect, he would wonder how he managed to be so casual. "Besides, the test has to be almost over by n-"

"TIME'S UP, LISTENERS! IT'S ALL OVER!"

"So yeah."

Uraraka looked positively put-out.

"I'm sorry, Deku-kun. If I hadn't gotten stuck you might have been able to earn some more points."

"Hey, I should be thanking _you_. You saved me back there."

"That's my line!"

"Call it even then?"

In spite of herself, Ochako laughed just a little.

Then the pain really hit. It was all Izuku could do to grit his teeth and stop himself from screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Deku-kun! Oh no!"

"Well, well, so your own beloved Quirk did this to you, eh?" a kindly, elderly voice said from behind Ochako, "Almost looks as though your body isn't used to it yet. Well hold still and let me kiss it better."

The little old woman did, indeed, kiss him on the head. He did, indeed, immediately feel better, if not very drained. Izuku knew immediately who this must be.

"The Youthful Heroine…Recovery Girl?"

"Oh, you know who I am do you? Yes, I'm the nurse here at U.A. You take better care of yourself young man, you hear me?" Not waiting for a response, Recovery Girl gave Ochako a once-over, a peck on the head, and then walked away, looking for any other injured applicants.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

One week had passed since the U.A. Entrance Exams. After Izuku had been healed by Recovery Girl, Ochako thanked him again, but said she had something important to take care of and ran off. Afterwards, he had met up with Kacchan at the subway and gone home.

On the way, Kacchan had waxed eloquent (or as eloquent as he ever got) about how he had completely dominated in the exam and racked up seventy-seven Villain points. When he asked Deku how he had done, he claimed that he got too caught up in it and was honestly not sure. The test results were due in about a week though, and he promised to let his friend know then.

Honestly, Izuku knew that he didn't get anywhere near enough points in the practical portion to pass. He hadn't heard from All Might in a week either. He wondered if All Might would ask him to give One For All back, after a failure like that.

The one thing that kept him above water that week was the knowledge that, if nothing else, he had managed to help someone. Really, truly help someone. Uraraka had over double the points he did so she probably had a decent chance of making it in, right? If she became a Hero then his actions that day were worth it.

His mother was over the moon about the whole thing as well. She kept telling Izuku that, pass or fail, she was just so proud of him for trying and doing his best.

She had no way of knowing that she was just making him feel worse. He hadn't told her about All Might or One For All. Just like with Kacchan, they weren't his secrets to tell.

He sat on the couch with his dumbbell, absently following the same workout routine he had been for the majority of the past year. He just did it automatically now, which left his mind free to wander.

 _I did what I thought was right, no, I_ know _it was right. I thought it would be the kind of thing All Might would have done, the kind of thing he would have wanted…but even if it wasn't, I know I wasn't wrong to try and save her._

He _did_ know that too. He knew it with complete certainty. If there was ever a chance to help someone in need, then a Hero was honor-bound to take that chance, regardless of personal interests.

"I-Izuku! Izuku!" His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by his mother, and her voice was filled with urgency, "It's here! The letter! It's really here!"

Izuku shut himself in his room and sat down at his desk to read the letter. The envelope proved rather difficult to open for some reason, so he just tore into it. When he did, a small object clattered onto his desk, and immediately lit up, projecting a face he had thought he might never see in person again onto his wall.

" _I am here as a projection!"_

"Huh? What?! But I thought this was from U.A.?!"

" _It's been a while. My apoligies. There was much to deliberate on."_ All Might rose from his apologetic bow and Izuku realized he was wearing a tan pinstriped suit, _"I'm in town for one reason only: I've come to teach at U.A.!"_

A hand entered the frame and made a "get on with it" gesture to All Might. The muscular hero looked put-out for a moment.

" _Whatever I want to say to him can be said later?! Ah, fine. Got it. Well, my boy, even though you did pass the written portion, and made a good showing at the practical, twelve points is simply too few to pass."_

He knew it. He had known it all along but…it still hurt to hear. Izuku's eyes started to tear up, but All Might was not done.

" _But that's not the end of the story! Oh my, no! Let me entertain you for a moment! Please watch the screen behind me!"_

" _Um_ _, excuse me…"_ It was Uraraka, with an anxious but determined look on her face.

" _She came to see us right after the test, my boy. Why, you ask?! Stay tuned!"_

" _That boy, Deku? Ah, he's the one with curly hair and freckles…kind of plain looking?"_ The camera zoomed out and it was revealed that she was speaking to Present Mic, _"Can you give him some of the points I earned?! I know he didn't earn enough to pass…but he saved me! He saved my life! At least give him however many he lost trying to save me!"_

" _You've moved others with your actions, my boy."_

" _Please! He saved my life, and he stayed with me to make sure I was okay! If anyone deserves to pass, it's him!"_

" _You see, in this exam, we weren't_ just _watching for Villain-based points!"_

Present Mic patted Uraraka on the head with an affectionate smile on his face.

" _I'm afraid we can't give him your points, my little Listener…but I think you'll find there's no need for it!"_

" _A Hero course that rejects those that do the right thing…why, it would be no Hero course at all, my boy!"_

No. This couldn't be happening. Was he saying what Izuku thought he was saying?!

" _Do you think Heroics is all for the cameras?! In this job, you risk your life and put your money where your mouth is! Rescue points were also a factor here as another fundamental way for U.A. to evaluate you! Sixty more points for Izuku Midoriya, and forty-five for Ochako Uraraka! My boy,"_ All Might extended his hand towards the camera, and Izuku's eyes started to overflow, _"you're in! This day marks the start of your Hero Academia!"_

* * *

 **Bang. Boom. Other situationally-appropriate onomatopoeia.**

 **I'm going to address a couple things here (sorry in advance for the long A/N):**

 **First off, how strong is Izuku's base Smash? Well, 5%. How strong is 5%? It's about a 2.5x boost. How did I figure this out? *Takes breath***

 **In Chapter 6 of the Manga, Izuku is gearing up to throw the ball with 100% One For All with his entire arm, when Eraserhead erases his Quirk. This results in him throwing the ball 46 meters. We can safely assume this is as far and as hard as he is capable of throwing that ball, since he was going all-in on this one. When Izuku throws the ball again, this time only using 100% on one of his fingers, it goes 705.3 meters. If we subtract 46 from 705.3 we see that 100% on one finger boosted his distance by 659.3 meters. However, we can safely assume that this is not the same distance he would have thrown it if he was using his entire arm. It's a finger vs an arm for chrissakes. So, how much power, comparatively, would the arm have? I choose to say double. Why just double? Because he threw that with his finger in the best possible way. He hauled back, let fly, and waited until the _last possible moment_ to give that sucker the Broken Finger Special. If he was throwing it normally and did just one finger, I guarantee it would not have gone as far as it did. So that's my logic.**

 **So we take 659.3 and divide it by 10 (as opposed to 20, because remember, whole arm would be double) which gives us 65.93. Add that 46 back in and we have 111.93 meters, which is about how far we could estimate Deku could throw the ball if he was just using 5% of One For All's power. Why does this matter? Because then we can take 111.93 and divide it by 46 to find our increase, which in this case is 2.433260869565217 times. That's an ugly number, so we're gonna bump that to 2.5 times for the sake of easier math. This means that at full power, One For All would boost Izuku's physical abilities by a whopping 50x! Why is this funny? Because it is the SAME boost that is popularly assigned to FUCKING SUPER SAIYANS. That's right, All Might is literally a Super Saiyan, and that's why he's so strong. Incredible power? Golden hair that spikes up when he transforms? It all makes sense now!**

 **This also explains why 8% Full Cowl is so much better than 5%. If 5% is a 2.5x boost, then 8% is 4x. That's significantly better. In fact, the math is SO nice at this point, that every percent equals a 0.5x boost. Just to clarify, Izuku does NOT have Full Cowl right now. He has to figure each motion separately. So it would go something like arm, leg, leg, arm, leg, etc. Still, it gives him something to work with as a baseline for when there's no fire around, and this WILL be explained in detail later, though given how clever you've all been so far you might be able to guess how it works anyway.**

 **If you took the time to actually read all that then feel free to use it in your own work if you like. It just pissed me off not knowing what Izuku was really capable of so I had to know XD.**

 **The second of these couple things is the Battle Trial voting. It is now officially closed because in the next one or two chapters, that'll be happening! That means I need to start making some notes on it.**

 **So, the results are as follows:**

 **A) (Keep everything as canon): 0. I agree. To hell with keeping everything canon. That's not why we like fanfiction!**

 **B) (Randomize all teams and matchups): 3. This is for sure an interesting way of doing things. Let the dice fall where they may and see what happens.**

 **C) (Randomize the teams and matchups, but have a couple things set in stone for the sake of plot): 5. In all honesty this is what I was thinking would win, because it's the best of both worlds. Incidentally, here are the requested things:**

 **Uraraka+Deku Team: 1**

 **Bakugou+Deku Team: 1**

 **Bakugou Team VS Deku Team: 1**

 **Todoroki Team VS Deku Team: 1**

 **Now, obviously, not all of these can happen. I can make two of them happen though, and that's Uraraka+Deku Team VS Bakugou+? Team. The reason I'm not putting Deku VS Todoroki in the Battle Trial is because...it's too soon. I want that fight to be BIG, and it would be anticlimactic as all hell for it to happen now. The Sports Festival really is the best place for it for a couple of reasons, so that's where it'll be. (Spoilers? Nah, I don't think that qualifies). I think that Deku's different style here combined with Bakugou having a random teammate will make this different enough to be enjoyable.**

 **And don't think I'm gonna skim over the other fights either! Every single fight is getting my full attention. No student left behind!**

 **Tell me what you think! This was a big chapter and I hope I did it justice.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7: We're Friends, Silly!

**So, since the last chapter went up, Torchbearer has hit a major milestone: Over 100 Favorites and Follows! As of the time of this posting, we're sitting at 103 Favorites, 165 Follows, 56 reviews, and 6,699 (oh my~) views. This is awesome, and you guys are awesome. I've said this before, and I'll probably end up saying it again later, but I never imagined this would become so successful in such a short time. It hasn't even been around a month yet!**

 **Enough gushing. Review time:**

 **BIGGYCHEESE: I don't have a hard and fast rule for this, partly because I don't think there _is_ a hard and fast rule. I think that, just like All Might says, the Quirk evolves organically. It certainly does become more powerful with each successive user, but that doesn't always translate into a straight-up power increase. A good example would be the people that contributed the auxiliary Quirks to it over time. At this point, I'm thinking I'll treat the overall power multiplier of x50 as the same for both Izuku and All Might (partially because it's such a nice number, partially because Super Saiyan joke), but obviously All Might did not have the ability to punch fire, so Izuku's version of it is still more powerful overall. Just imagine an All Might-level Texas Smash with a raging inferno behind it. Complete and total destruction.**

 **ImHellaUgly: Thank you! It always makes me happy to hear this. I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Gokuu the Carrot: I totally get it man. I still have school dreams and I've been out of university for over two years now.**

 **OSR fanatic: Thank you! YOUR WISH IS GRANTED!**

 **Hektols (who took the time to review each chapter individually, so I will respond to each review individually): 1. Indeed he will/did!**

 **2\. That would make a lot of sense, wouldn't it? We'll have to see... (Also I love how everyone knew he would be able to eat fire even though until Chapter 6 we had not actually seen him do it.)**

 **3\. True dat.**

 **4\. True dat once again. It explains how Katsuki is so strong without a Quirk that explicitly enhances strength. The human body is an incredibly adaptable thing.**

 **5\. Very carefully. This chapter should show some of that.**

 **6\. Someone's been reading my notes. That makes like two or three of you at this point XD. As for using his lungs, that would make a lot of sense, wouldn't it? (Again, so many people are already predicting that Izuku will be breathing fire at some point that I'm not sure if it would be spoilers or not to say *CENSORED DUE TO SPOILERS*)**

 **Vixen Uchiha: You know, that's an interesting idea for a matchup until I realize that poor Tokoyami would be completely shut down once Izuku and Bakugo realize that fire and explosions heavily weaken Dark Shadow. Don't worry though! He will get his screen time, as will everyone else.**

 **RandomDude: No worries Dude. I'm glad my presentation of him finally using One For All lived up to the hype. And yeah, I figured that he'd be too engrossed in his search for Bakugo to be tripping. He's more...focused, I guess?**

 **I totally understand those next three points. I don't really like the behavior either, but when I thought how to possibly change it I came to the conclusion that it wouldn't make sense to do so. Tenya really does have a stick up his ass at the beginning (we all know he gets better eventually) and so far the ripple effect has not reached him yet. I couldn't really think of a valid reason for him to be different at this point. I guess it just felt out of character? As for the peanut gallery, same deal. Izuku doesn't look intimidating or particularly confident, so they have no reason to see him as a threat.**

 **And yeah, 72 points! That actually puts him in fourth place right below Uraraka, Kirishima, and Bakugo at the top. Certainly a respectable showing. And don't worry man, this doesn't come across as nitpicky at ALL. I actually felt similarly about those scenes and I'm glad I'm not the only one. People pointing out things they didn't like in a constructive way is important, since then I can either explain why I did what I did, or notice something I may have overlooked. For me reviews are a dialogue with my audience, especially since I don't do social media.**

 **Thank you for your continued support.**

 **ShadowBlackthornAlpha: Could you expand on that a little bit? I think I get what you mean, and I tried to incorporate that into this chapter, but if you could elaborate just to be sure, that'd be great. I know that my dialogue can be a bit back-and-forthy sometimes.**

 **And I'm glad to know you're enjoying it. I hope you continue to do so!**

 **The 0bservanc3: Thank you! That is exactly what I was going for. I personally don't usually like stories where the main character is suddenly OP for the sake of having a power fantasy. I like to keep an element of balance to things, and I think I've done that. Making him a bit stronger without taking it too far, as well as putting a limiter on his power usage.**

 **Again, my thoughts exactly. He's mellowed out a bit from canon, and the relationship is certainly much better. Hopefully this chapter answers the part about his reaction as well. And yeah, you could think of him a bit like Natsu with the generating of fire, except it actually burns him too. I'm glad you dig it.**

 **I have some ideas about Full Cowl. I haven't got it completely ironed out yet, but I know the general direction I'd like to take it in. And that durability is certainly putting in some work. It's one of the reasons why the burns on his arm after the Zero fight weren't as bad as they could have been. He very well might build up some resistance as time goes on, but I don't ever plan on him being completely immune. Now, equipment on the other hand...**

 **As far as who I'd pair Bakugo with...at the moment I can't honestly say I have any plans about that. I could always spout the same answer as so many others and say Kirishima, but I don't really see Kirishima as gay. This chapter actually addresses that somewhat also.**

 **I fully intend to keep going! Thank you for your support!**

 **And now, I think it's Todoroki time. Don't you think it's Todoroki time?**

* * *

Chapter Seven: We're Friends, Silly!

Shoto Todoroki was irritated. The source of his irritation was his father. This was a very common situation. In fact, Shoto could not remember the last time his father and him had had an interaction that did not leave him feeling like he wanted to break something…or some _one_.

One someone in particular. The very same someone whom had just stuck out an arm to prevent his progress back to his bedroom, where he had fully intended to shut the door and be alone for the rest of the evening.

"What do you want?"

"I would like to have a conversation with my son."

Shoto did not respond to his father, simply glaring at him with his mismatched eyes. Instead of following his son's unspoken "get to the point," he simply gestured towards the sitting room. Shoto looked for a moment as though he was going to argue, but he settled for a scowl and a grunt as he led the way to the sitting room.

Shoto immediately headed for his favorite couch, but after a few steps he became aware of the fact that his father was not following him. He was instead headed towards the kitchen.

"I am getting a drink, Shoto. Would you like anything?"

So they were going to be here a while. Great.

"Some juice."

"Some juice…?"

"…Please." This last part was said through gritted teeth. His father was apparently in a good mood, or at least the closest thing the vaunted Number Two Hero _had_ to a good mood, and this meant two things:

First, he was going to be absolutely insufferable. He would pretend to be nice to Shoto, offering him a drink or a snack, complimenting him on his progress in his training, inquiring about his schooling, and then making some statement about his personal life or future. In that order. He would pretend that he cared, that he saw Shoto as more than just a means to an end, and act like a good portion of his childhood had never happened. All of this in the name of the second thing:

His father wanted something. Specifically, he wanted something from _him_. This was not a common occurrence, mainly because there was so little he could actually do for the man that he could not better do for himself, or at the very least there was so little he _would_ actually do.

Endeavor (he did not think of his father as Enji Todoroki because that would imply that the man was ever anything other than a full-time Hero, even when it came to his own family) had more than once used this approach to try and coax Shoto into using his left side during their training, or just using it more in general. Shoto immediately refused every single time. He would never use his father's power in combat. He would make due with only his right side; the power of his mother who had spent the better part of the past decade in a mental hospital after his father had her admitted when their loveless marriage and experimental children were just too much for her to take anymore.

A glass clinked into place on the coffee table in front of Shoto's downturned gaze, filled with orange juice. No ice, as was his preference. He glanced up in time to see his father take a seat opposite him in his recliner, setting a finger of whiskey (one of _his_ rather sizeable fingers at any rate) on the table in front of him.

Endeavor rested his elbows on the arms of his chair and knit his fingers together, a neutral expression on his face. Shoto knew what he was waiting for, and a rather large part of him wanted to draw this out as long as possible just to spite the man, but he decided against it in the end. He took his glass of juice with his right hand and chilled it with his mother's Quirk before taking a sip. No sooner had he finished this than his father began:

"You did well today. Your physical prowess is far above what would ordinarily be expected from someone who has not even begun Hero Studies in earnest yet."

Shoto listened without comment, hating the small part of himself that warmed at his father's praise. He hated the man. He did! It was his fault! Everything was his fault! It wasn't fair that his words had such power over him. He didn't deserve that! He didn't have the right!

"Even your prowess with your Quirk is exceptional. Well, _half_ of your Quirk anyway." Shoto bristled at this, but his father waved a hand and took a sip of his whiskey before continuing, "That is not what I wished to talk to you about, Shoto. Not this time. Indeed, I feel this particular topic will interest you as much as it interests me. Or at least it will in time. Before that though, speaking of your schooling has reminded me: have you received the letter yet?"

"Yes. Just before we started today."

The letter had been one his father had been saying he would get. He said it was due to Shoto's good grades and exceptional Quirk, but Shoto suspected his father's influence had just as much to do with it.

 _It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been selected to attend U.A. Hero Academy based on the recommendations provided to us by your teacher(s) and/or a Hero (or Heroes) in the field._

There was more to it than that, of course. Much more. So very, very much more that was dry and boring and pretentious and he only read it because he understood how many people would give anything to be in his position…at least as far as this.

"Good, good. I knew it would, of course, but a father does worry about things like this."

 _A normal father does. Not you. Never you._

"I am looking forward to your time at U.A. perhaps even more than you are, Shoto. There you may finally make some friends that are worthy of you. At least, that is my hope. High school is where you can make friends and connections that carry on into the rest of your life, you know."

Personal life _and_ future prospects bundled into one? He _really_ wanted something. Hell, the bastard almost sounded _genuine_.

"Speaking of your future classmates…" and here was the kicker, right on schedule, "are you familiar with a particularly well-publicized Villain incident that took place just under a year ago?"

Shoto blinked. He took a moment to comb his memories before deciding that he did not remember and shaking his head.

"I did not think you would. If it helps, All Might was involved."

Of course he was. Why the hell else would Endeavor care?

"That is not what piqued my interest about this however."

…Well excuse the hell out of Shoto. If the old man was trying to build suspense on purpose he was doing a damned good job of it. Shoto was actually paying attention now.

"You see, during this particular incident, an amorphous Mutant type Villain was attempting to body-jack a middle school student. None of the Heroes that were present had the proper Quirks to combat it effectively, so they were relegated to damage control and corralling the spectators. Then another boy wearing the same uniform as the first boy, presumably a friend, broke the line and charged straight at the Villain. He displayed a Quirk that appears to be a limited form of pyrokinesis and was prepared to sacrifice himself to save his friend. The captured boy then displayed an Emitter type Quirk that allowed him to prevent his friend from immolating himself in the process. Their teamwork allowed them to stall long enough for All Might to show up and save the day. Cue fanfare, roll credits, etcetera etcetera."

"What do these two middle school students have to do with me?"

"Well, my son, it just so happens that both of them have passed the U.A. entrance exam, with flying colors I might add. I made sure to request recordings of the event well in advance, and the growth they have exhibited, on the part of the boy with the flame Quirk in particular, is nothing short of spectacular. I believe that they will only grow further as time goes on, and that they may, if properly cultivated, become Pro Heroes themselves one day."

"Good for them."

"Do not be flippant with me, boy. I am not telling you this for no reason."

"Then get to the point."

For a moment, Endeavor looked as though he were considering striking his son for his insolence, and he probably _was_ , but in the end his initial goal took precedence and he took a longer sip of his whiskey before continuing.

"The boy with the flame Quirk is named Izuku Midoriya. He single-handedly took down a rather powerful Faux-Villain in what was frankly an incredible display of power for one so young. I would like for you to observe him should you get the chance and tell me if you notice anything particularly interesting. I am not asking you to befriend him, as I know nothing about him apart from the fact that he possesses both courage and that certain streak that some call Heroic and some call foolish. I have yet to decide which I consider him to be."

"I have one question."

"Ask."

"Why do you care?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why do you care about this kid? Is it because he has a fire Quirk like you, because he shows potential as a Hero, because you want me to be buddy-buddy with him, because he's actually a plant to further whatever your scheming, or what?"

"Is it wrong for a father to show interest in his son's classmates? Particularly when they may one day become colleagues that hold each other's life in their hands?"

"No. Doesn't explain why _you_ are though."

"That is enough, Shoto. You will do as I have requested unless you can provide me with an excellent reason as to why you cannot or should not. I am not asking you to go out of your way for this. You might not even end up in the same class. If this is the case then your opportunities will understandably be lessened, but there is always the Sports Festival if it comes to that. I will be in attendance myself, of course, but an on-the-ground perspective is always worth more than one from the stands."

As much as he wanted to spite his father on this, Shoto could not think of any particular reasons other than that it was liable to be a pain in the ass and he really didn't want to. So he bowed his head slightly and stood up.

"Oh, and do not feel restricted in this, Shoto." Endeavor said from his chair, a satisfied smirk on his face, "Should any of your other classmates pique your interest, feel free to tell me about them too."

Shoto merely grunted in response before picking up his orange juice, draining it, and making his way into the kitchen. It wasn't like he would have to worry about any of this for another month anyway.

Still, it was unusual for his father to openly display interest in any individual other than All Might or, by extension, Shoto. His future classmate must have really impressed him somehow.

"Midoriya, huh?"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

After crying and celebrating with his mother, Izuku remembered his promise to Kacchan and immediately grabbed his phone, opening up his chat app. It was popular among his age group because of the plethora of custom images one could choose from as an avatar, and the overall ease of use. Izuku's avatar was, of course, All Might's face.

All Might: Hey, Kacchan, I got my letter from U.A.! I passed! And I got 72 points! Sorry it took so long to let you know. It just showed up earlier today and I was celebrating with my mom.

After a few moments, Katsuki's reply came. His avatar was, fittingly enough, a hand grenade.

Grenade: GDI Deku. Do u know what time it is?!

Izuku looked at the clock to discover that it was…quite late actually. He and his mom must have been celebrating longer than he thought.

All Might: Ah! Sorry! I lost track of time and just remembered that you wanted to know, so…

Grenade: W/e. Knew u would get in. 72 points? No wonder u lost count. That's a lot of kills. Guess that new thing worked?

All Might: Yeah! It was a gamble, but I was in a tight spot and it was do or die time. Good thing it worked! You want details?

Grenade: NO

Grenade: Not now. Come over tomorrow and tell me then.

Grenade: Let me fucking sleep. U should too.

All Might: Yeah, okay. Sounds good to me.

Grenade: Oh, and Deku?

All Might: Yes?

Grenade: Don't u think it's weird that u use a group chat app for 1 on 1 convos?

All Might: I mean…no?

Grenade: W/e. GN.

All Might: Goodnight.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Damn. That's one hell of a story Izu-kun! Color me impressed!"

Izuku had walked over to the Bakugo residence that morning as he and Katsuki had planned and had wasted no time in recounting the events of the entrance exam. Mitsuki Bakugo, Kacchan's mother, had been drinking her morning coffee while the boys talked, and soon found herself interested in the tale. Izuku sometimes found it disconcerting just how much she and her son resembled each other. They had the same hair, the same eyes, and even the same smile. Mitsuki also looked very young for her age thanks to her Quirk, Glycerin, which kept her skin in pristine condition.

"Ah, thank you, Bakugo-san."

"Kid, we've talked about this."

"R-right. I mean thank you, Mitsuki-san."

"Close enough."

Mitsuki rolled her eyes good-naturedly at the green-haired boy. She had said on several occasions throughout the years, only half-jokingly, that Izuku was as good as a second son to her, since he was the only friend that Katsuki seemed to have genuine respect for.

"Rescue points, huh? Well, I guess there had to be some way for the ones who aren't as badass as me to pass too. It wouldn't be fair otherwise." In spite of his words, Kacchan seemed to be giving the situation some real thought, if his pensive expression was anything to go by.

"More like they give people props for actually acting like Heroes and not just battle-crazy meatheads." Mitsuki ruffled her son's hair fondly as she said this.

"Hey I got the number one spot on that list! What more proof do you need that rescue points are just for those that couldn't hack it? In the second half, the competition were all starting to slow down, but I just kept on kicking ass at full-power!"

"I don't remember saying that being a battle-crazy meathead was a _bad_ thing. It takes all types in this world, and besides," at this Mitsuki gave Izuku a fond smile, "you've got Izu-kun to keep you from going too far off the deep end. With a partner like him, you can charge straight ahead without worrying. Right, Izu-kun?" She threw one arm around her son and the other around Izuku from behind the couch, much to the latter's embarrassment, "Someone has to keep an eye on our favorite firecracker until he finds himself that special someone. May as well be his best friend, no?"

Izuku had a hard time dealing with Mitsuki when she got like this, and he suspected she did it on purpose for kicks. Thankfully, Kacchan saved him by shoving his mother off of them, looking annoyed.

"Mom, I keep telling you I don't give a crap about that kind of stuff right now! I just wanna focus on being the best. Once that happens…we'll see."

"Oh, if you're anything like me you'll just spot someone one day and say to yourself 'I want that one. That one's mine!' and you'll just walk right up and tell them straight out. It's how your father and I met, after all! You don't plan this kind of thing, Katsuki, it just happens."

"Whatever. Back to something interesting. Deku!"

Izuku jumped slightly as Kacchan's head suddenly snapped around and his index finger pointed towards him.

"Wha?"

"You've got super-strength now and you can punch pillars of fire. Explain that shit!"

Izuku nodded and took a moment to collect his thoughts. He needed to tell the truth without telling the _whole_ truth. Luckily, he had possessed the foresight to lay the groundwork for this explanation before the exam had taken place.

"Well, you remember how I was working on something but I wasn't sure if it would work or not?"

Kacchan crossed his arms and nodded sharply.

"It turns out that not only did it work, it had some unintended side-effects. I mentioned earlier that I figured out how to attract fire to specific parts of my body, remember? Well, I had a really dumb idea to go along with that." Katsuki's eyes narrowed as Izuku went on, which was shorthand for "get to the point," so Izuku obliged, "You know how you like spicy food way more than I do but I always seemed to be able to handle it no matter how bad it was?"

Kacchan blinked, clearly not having expected the conversation to go in this direction.

"This better have a point, Deku."

"Well, I decided to see just how…spicy…of stuff I could handle, if that makes sense."

For a brief moment, Katsuki looked at Izuku like he was debating whether or not to explode him.

"Deku, did you eat fucking _fire_ without knowing what would happen?"

"I mean…I was about eighty percent sure that it'd be fine?"

Mitsuki was fighting a losing battle against breaking out into laughter from behind her hands at the sheer level of nerve and reckless abandon that the experiment had taken, especially since it had come from Izuku. It was the type of thing she might expect her _son_ to do!

Izuku gave his friend's mother a sheepish look before continuing with his explanation.

"Well, it turns out up until now I've only been using half of my Quirk. I can inhale fire and store it up in my body somehow. Then, I can use it to increase my physical power. If I just use a bit, then I can handle it alright and it gives me a small boost. If I use a lot…well, I didn't really find out what _that_ would do until I was fighting the Zero. Turns out that my body just can't handle that level of physical output right now, and my lack of fire immunity means that igniting my limbs isn't a good idea either…though maybe I could reduce the risk of that with a flameproof costume? I should do some research on what Endeavor's costume is made of, since it never burns, and he still seems to be able to emit fire even while wearing it. Though maybe that's part of his Quirk? I mean, he's never really talked about it too much so there's no real way of knowing and-"

"Deku!"

Izuku stopped talking and realized that he had started on one of his infamous muttering sessions towards the end.

"Ah, sorry, Kacchan. Long story short, I can consume flames and use them to fuel my super strength, and if I use a lot I can actually produce fire. Using too much at once damages my body though."

"How do you know when you're all filled up?"

"Well, it's only happened once so far, but it felt kind of like when you take a really deep breath and you just can't hold any more air."

"So you have no idea."

"Pretty much, yeah."

Katsuki huffed and sat back on the couch, processing what Izuku had told him.

"Izu-kun, how much fire do you have to consume to use the safe amount of your Quirk?"

Mitsuki had, knowingly or not, asked the very question Izuku had hoped to avoid. He had no choice now but to lie outright. He didn't like it. It made him feel…unclean…lying to people he was close to.

"I couldn't say exactly how much, but it's a very small amount."

"Hmm, then why not start carrying a lighter around with you or something?"

"Because schools usually frown on that?"

"This is hardly a normal school, Izu-kun. Why not ask the faculty? I'm sure you're not the first student whose Quirk needs some sort of outside fuel to function properly."

Katsuki was nodding at his mother as she spoke.

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea. You never know when you'll have to use it for a class or something, and there's no guarantee there'll be fire around when you need it. Even if it's a piss-poor amount, it'll at least be something."

That…could actually work. It wasn't necessary at all, of course, but it could serve as a good cover story, especially if he made a show of fiddling with the lighter or occasionally "stocking up" on flames.

…Hopefully people didn't start to think he was a smoker.

"That's a really good idea, Mitsuki-san! I'll be sure to look into that. Thank you." Izuku smiled at his friend's mother, genuinely grateful for her solution.

"Aww! Katsuki, would it kill you to be all cute and grateful like this sometimes? Just look at him!"

"…I see a blossoming pyromaniac disguised as a fluffball."

"Kacchan!"

Katsuki made a show of leaning back and closing his eyes, but Izuku swore that he saw a small smirk.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku was high-tailing it to Dagobah Beach. He had received a text asking him to come just a few minutes ago, at around eight. He had come home from the Bakugo household just a few hours prior, and was winding down for the evening, when he had gotten this message from a number he did not recognize:

 _Midoriya, my boy, could you please come to the beach if it is convenient for you? I would like to congratulate you on your recent acceptance and hear about your entrance exam!_

Only one person addressed him like that, so there was only one person this message could be from. Izuku had shot off the couch so quickly that he wondered if he had subconsciously activated One For All before making a hurried excuse to his mother and bolting out the door.

It had taken all of Izuku's self-control not to use One For All to hasten his progress to the beach. It had been just over a week since he had seen his idol, but after spending so much time with him over the past ten months, Izuku had honestly missed the man.

His feet pounded over the sand as he approached the lone figure on the beach. It was rather dark, but that tall, lanky frame and untidy blonde hair could only belong to one person.

"All Might!"

Izuku was shushed so forcefully that All Might spat up a bit of blood, but it was too late.

"All Might?! No way! Where?!" A couple out walking the beaches had heard Midoriya's shout and now were frantically searching for the Number One Hero.

"Midoriya, my boy, repeat after me! 'It was just my eyes playing tricks on me!'" All Might whispered.

"It was just my eyes playing tricks on me! No All Might here! Nope!"

After the couple had moved on, All Might raised his hand and offered Izuku a high-five, which the boy eagerly accepted.

"Congratulations on passing, my boy. You should know: I have not informed the school about our relationship. You seem like the type who would worry about favoritism, and I didn't want to cheapen your efforts. I wasn't a judge either."

"Thank you, All Might! I really appreciate that! Also, you're a teacher at U.A. now? That's awesome! I really didn't see that one coming at all. It explains why we're meeting here instead of your office in Tokyo, too. It's just closer."

"Ah, yes I apologize for not telling you sooner, but I was not allowed to until the school made it public knowledge." All Might turned to look out over the ocean, at the moon and stars reflected off of the black surface, "My original plan was to take the job at U.A. while searching for my successor. I thought that there would be no better place to look than amongst the best and brightest of the next generation."

The students of U.A., with their amazing Quirks and raw talent that they had spent their entire lives honing…

"…And you ended up with me. I fried and shattered my arm when I tried to use your Quirk for real. I thought my body was ready, but I guess not."

Izuku was so busy staring down at his hands that he didn't notice All Might's approach until he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't sell yourself short, my boy. You haven't had One For All long enough to have any kind of finesse with it, so that's only natural. At least you didn't explode! That's what would have happened if you had tried using my Quirk ten months ago, so you remember that. It's like I told you before: you've earned this power. You and nobody else."

Izuku looked up at his mentor to see him smiling down at him, emanating reassurance and…pride?

"Once you learn how to regulate the power, you can restrict the output to just what your body can handle. Over time, you will get used to One For All, and your vessel will become ever more tempered until you are able to wield it freely."

Seeing that his protégé was still not completely convinced, All Might turned the pair of them so they were looking out at the ocean again. He raised his hand as though he were holding a torch and extended it towards the moon.

"Think of it like passing the Olympic flame. The new torch burns weakly at first, but the tests and trials you overcome will fan it into a mighty blaze!" All Might assumed his muscle form to illustrate his point, "And as your flame grows, my own will slowly wither and die…my legacy passed on and my duty fulfilled!"

Well, that had taken a rather somber turn at the end.

"Holy crap, is that All Might?!"

"Shit! Run, Midoriya, my boy! Tell me about your newfound abilities in detail while we escape!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The month until the U.A. opening ceremony passed by rather quickly for Izuku. He spent a good deal of time with Katsuki engaged in no-Quirk sparring, brainstorming battle tactics, experimenting with Quirk usage (when they weren't in public, as that would have been illegal), and just generally hanging out, trying to kill time until classes started.

He still kept up his regular training regimen on his own, which helped, but Izuku found himself hoping that he could make some new friends at U.A. It was nice hanging out with Kacchan and all, but they couldn't do that _all_ the time. Maybe he'd be in the same class as Uraraka-san? He hoped so. She seemed like a genuinely nice person, and she'd stood up for him after the entrance exam with Present Mic, even if in the end it was unnecessary. He still appreciated it.

Another plus to starting at U.A. was (hopefully) the ability to really test out the limits of his Quirk and figure out how it worked. He needed more than just a lighter or a candle to do anything significant, as while they were great for practicing the focus and control aspect, they were terrible for anything else.

Speaking of lighters, Izuku had found that, indeed, he could carry one with him as long as he submitted an equipment form that explained what he wanted to carry with him and why it was necessary. He had emailed the school the required form the day after that particular visit to Katsuki's home and had received a return email notifying him that his request was accepted about a week later. This acceptance carried the stipulations that he use it for Quirk-related purposes only, and not for arson or drug usage among other things.

To better sell the story, Izuku decided that instead of disposable lighters, he should invest in a refillable metallic one, for durability's sake as much as anything else. He did some searching online and found that Zippo was the most popular for such things, and better yet, they even had a more durable model called an Armor Zippo.

Izuku eventually found one that he liked. It was a windproof Armor model that had a torch engraved on the side and was a dull silver as opposed to the bright, polished look that many of the others had. Less eye-catching that way, and the torch motif just…spoke to him. Especially after his talk with All Might on the beach.

The issue then became that, as a minor, Izuku could not legally purchase this online. After a conversation with his mother about Mitsuki's idea and explaining that he had already gotten permission from U.A., she agreed that it did seem like a practical idea. Inko even offered to pay for the lighter itself, though Izuku would be responsible for the cost of fuel and any replacement pieces such as wicks that might be needed in the future.

So it was that Izuku found himself on the subway heading to his first day of U.A. with his new lighter in his pocket. It was a Sunday, as opening ceremonies usually are, so it would likely be a half-day scenario. He would get to meet his classmates and homeroom teacher, but there probably wouldn't be time for much else.

When Izuku arrived at the familiar gates, he saw Bakugo waiting for him against a wall.

"Took you long enough, Deku. I was thinking we had a replay of the entrance exams on our hands."

"Heh. No way, Kacchan. I'm not going to make that mistake twice!"

"Damn right you're not."

The pair bantered with each other until they had entered the building, at which point they realized they didn't know where they were going.

"Oi, Deku. We're looking for 1-A, right?"

"Hey, yeah! How did you know we were in the same class, Kacchan?"

"Tch. Dumbass. As if I'd let them put you in a different class."

"But how-"

"Fuck you, that's how. Now drop it and help me find the classroom."

Izuku couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'm glad we're in the same class too, Kacchan."

"DEKU, I SWEAR TO GOD-"

"Deku? Oh! Hey! You two! Wait up!" A familiar female voice rang out though the hall and Izuku spun around to see Ochako jogging towards him and Kacchan.

"Uraraka-san! Hello!"

"Who?"

"The girl from before, Kacchan."

"Oh, right, Round Face."

"Seriously…"

At that point, the Zero Gravity Quirk user had reached the pair and was panting slightly.

"Oh I'm so glad I found you two! I was trying to find class 1-A and this place is so huge!"

Izuku was unprepared for just how relieved he was that she was in their class as well, and a big smile plastered itself on his face.

"Hey, that's our class too! Want to look with us? It's the least I can do after you helped me before."

"Really? Hey, we're classmates! That's great! Oh! We should get properly introduced then." Ochako stood up straighter before bowing to the pair, "It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Ochako Uraraka." She rose from her bow and held up a hand before either of them could respond. Izuku noticed that she had what looked like sensory pads on the tips of each of her fingers, "Wait, I wanna see if I can remember your names!"

She pointed to Izuku.

"You're Deku Midoriya, and you're…" she pointed to Bakugo next, and Izuku saw what was coming but was too slow to stop her, "…I don't think I know your last name, but you're Kacchan, right?"

"MY FUCKING NAME IS NOT FUCKING KACCHAN GODDAMNIT!"

Uraraka was so shocked by this response that she actually stumbled backward, necessitating a quick save by Midoriya before she fell over.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, I-"

"Uraraka-san, hold that thought." Izuku's voice was stern and flinty, a far cry from his usual tone. He turned his narrowed gaze upon Katsuki, who was so taken aback that he forgot to keep yelling.

"Kacchan, that was seriously uncalled for. That's all she's heard you called up until now. She has no way of knowing the situation or your preferences. Now you are going to explain to her, calmly and without swearing, why you just saw the need to blow up in the face of a perfectly nice girl who in no way deserved _any_ of that. None of us are moving from this spot until you do."

"And why the hell-" Izuku cut him off.

"Because Heroes need to know how to talk to people, Kacchan, and if you think you're going to act like that towards civilians and get away with it then you need your head examined!"

The two friends glared at each other for an extremely tense few moments, with poor Ochako not knowing what to do, before Katsuki let out a long sigh of defeat.

"Okay. Fine. You might have a point there."

He shifted his stance so he was looking directly at Uraraka, cleared his throat, and in an unnaturally level voice, explained himself:

"My name is Katsuki Bakugo. His name is Izuku Midoriya. We have known each other for a long fu- * **ahem** *, for a very long time. When we were little, we had stupid nicknames for each other. My nickname was Kacchan because it's a play on my given name, and his nickname was Deku for reasons that are none of your goddamn- * **ahem** *, for reasons that are his to know so if you want to know ask _him_. The _point_ of this story is that the nicknames just kind of stuck, and I really, _really_ wish that he wouldn't call me Kacchan, but he keeps doing it and I've just learned to accept it. That does not mean I want anyone else to call me that, and if they do I will fucking murder- * **ahem** *, I am likely to get very, very upset. As such, please do not call me that. Any questions?"

Izuku was quite proud of himself that he did not laugh during that speech. He was also quite proud of Kacchan for going through with it. A couple missteps, but he counted it as a passable job.

"I do have one question: Haven't you asked him to stop calling you that name if it bothers you so much?"

"Of course, I fucking have! Watch, I'll show you how that goes: Oi, Deku?"

"Yes, Kacchan?"

"Don't call me 'Kacchan'."

"Don't call me 'Deku'."

"Fuck you, I'll call you what I want."

"Fair enough. Same here then."

Katsuki made a sweeping gesture as if to say "ta-daah". Izuku helpfully leaned in a bit closer to Ochako and stage-whispered:

"We've had that same exchange, almost verbatim, about a hundred times over the years. It's become something of a ritual."

Apparently having garnered enough of an understanding for the moment, Ochako bowed to Bakugo again.

"I apologize for upsetting you, Bakugo-san. I will make sure to get it right from here on out!"

"Tch. Make sure you do. And, ah, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier about that. That was a dick move. Deku's right, you couldn't have known. That excuse won't fly a second time though so…I warned you!"

He then stomped off in the direction they had previously been heading, continuing the search for the classroom. Izuku and Ochako followed a few paces behind him.

"Ah, Dek-er, Midoriya-kun?"

"You can call me Deku, Uraraka-san, I don't mind."

"Okay, then, Deku-kun?"

"Yes, Uraraka-san?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for…" she seemed to be searching for the right words, "…for just now. I had no idea that would be such an issue for Bakugo-san and, well…just thank you. You helped me calm down again."

It was at this point that Izuku realized what he had just done, and how it might have looked to an outsider.

"D-don't mention it! I mean, I n-never properly thanked you f-for doing that for me b-back at the entrance exams, s-so feel free to c-call it even!"

"Haha, you're funny, Deku-kun!"

"How so?"

"We're friends, silly! You don't have to worry about paying friends back for things like that. You just say 'thank you!'"

He had another friend. He really, truly had another friend, and it was someone so nice! Izuku had to take a moment to clamp down on his overactive tear glands before responding.

"In that c-case, thank you, Uraraka-san."

"You're welcome!"

* * *

 **So, in case it wasn't obvious, I know precisely two things about lighters: Jack and Shit. Forgive me if there's a more popular type of lighter or if butane would be better, or if Zippo isn't really common in Japan, or anything else of that nature. I just didn't want him to be running around with a little plastic dollar store lighter. I did about 30 mins of research total and called it sufficient.**

 **On a separate note, I've had that scene of Izuku chewing out Katsuki in my head almost since the beginning. Hopefully you all find it as hilarious/awesome as I do. I originally intended to get to the Quirk Assessment this chapter, but I underestimated how long that scene with Shoto and Enji would be. Really happy with how that scene came out though, I gotta say.**

 **So, next time is Quirk Assessments and probably the beginning of the Battle Trial! I have rolled the match-ups for that and we have four legitimately interesting looking fights and one complete and total disaster. To tide you all over in the meantime I will reveal who Bakugo's partner is:**

 **Shoji. Mr Dupli-Arms himself. I did not see that coming and I'm excited for it.**

 **As always, thank you for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8: New Friends And Bakugo

**Sweet Jesus I just realized that we went from the first chapter being less than two thousand words to this one being just a few hundred shy of eight thousand (without author's notes). I used to wonder how some people could churn out such lengthy chapters, but I think I'm starting to understand it now.**

 **Also, we've passed the 200 Follows mark since last time! This is awesome.**

 **Review time:**

 **SSJ-Jolt: I did not think of it that way and you are completely, one-hundred percent right. Thank you!**

 **Hektols: Daddy knows what he's talking about, who'd a thunk it? And you're right, that would be funny, so I'm incorporating it. Thank you!**

 **chunnin33: I was thinking about it, but I felt like Izuku would have the necessary foresight to know that something would go wrong eventually.**

 **RandomDude: I just had to have him say something snarky. The opportunity was too perfect. I do like screwing with canon whenever it is feasible to do so, particularly when I see an opportunity to expand or even add new scenes entirely.**

 **I am really liking writing the Enji scenes, and I am super glad that you were able to get pretty much what I was going for there. I really am trying to portray Enji (and everyone else too, but him in particular) as a complex, three-dimensional person instead of just an egomaniac with a hate-boner for All Might. There are future scenes with him that I am really looking forward to doing.**

 **Full Cowl will certainly be a game-changer. As well it should be. I have the basic framework for it figured out.**

 **That is a super-neat idea on Quirk synergy between Ochako and Katsuki, and I will have to use that at some point. Double BFF smack-down indeed. Once she gets more used to how to handle Lord Explosion Murder, she could probably fill in for Izuku if need be. She has the right temperament for it, for sure.**

 **Hoo boy, if you thought _last_ chapter got you thinking about ships...buckle up.**

 **Aguion12: Hey, great minds, what can I say? XD**

 **Cyde: Thank you for this insight. I am glad to know that there's not some super-basic knowledge that will make me the joke of any smokers, current or former, that read this fic. For sure on that not being sold to minors thing, which is why I had his mom buy it under her name.**

 **I will certainly give some consideration to those strike-anywhere matches. That might be a good thing to use chunnin33's suggestion on, actually.**

 **Shiranai Atsune: I am glad to hear that. You'll hopefully enjoy this chapter too then!**

 **wildtrance: Thank you!**

 **And now, the first (but not really) day of U.A.!**

* * *

Chapter Eight: New Friends…And Bakugo

Izuku Midoriya was on cloud nine. It was his first day at U.A. (well, first _half-day_ at any rate, since it was just the Sunday of opening ceremonies), he, Kacchan, and Uraraka were all in the same class, _and_ he officially had another friend! She had even said as much, so he didn't need to wonder about it!

If he had been a bit more self-aware at the moment, then Izuku might have felt the massive smile that had currently plastered itself on his face. Katsuki, walking a short distance ahead of Izuku and Ochako while searching for their classroom, did not notice, but his change in demeanor caught Ochako's notice from the corner of her eye. She said nothing, but his obvious excitement was infectious and she found herself smiling too, if not quite as broadly.

"Holy fuck. Look at this door." Katsuki's voice brought Izuku back to reality just in time to notice the massive door with "1-A" painted on it. It had to be at least twenty feet tall and six feet wide.

"Wow," Ochako was the first to process this, "that's kind of intimidating, but at the same time it's kind of cool, right?"

"Tch. What, are they trying to psych us out or something? We already passed their damn tests!"

"Actually, Kacchan, I think it's a matter of functionality. I mean, Quirks come in all shapes and sizes, right? Maybe the door is like that to make sure that it's accessible to everyone?"

While they were contemplating the school's design, Bakugo absentmindedly threw open the door with an entirely unnecessary amount of force, causing it to slam into its frame. He then proceeded to walk into the classroom like he owned it. He then decided that his first entrance needed some more…oomph.

"Attention, Bitches! The Number One and his posse have entered the classroom! Anyone who disagrees with that statement had better be explosion-proof!"

If all eyes had not been on Bakugo before, they sure as hell were now.

"That was manly as hell!"

"Who is this uncouth monsieur?"

"Such a Metal entrance…"

"Shocking!"

"Hey, it's another girl!"

"Quick! Someone make me invisible!"

"Ribbit."

There went any and all hopes Izuku had of making a good first impression. He needed to run damage control and fast. He tried to do a placating wave, an apologetic bow, and a diffusing smile all at once which resulted in him assuming a strange stance that looked like he was a surrendering hunchback.

"Ah! S-sorry about that! H-he's not a b-bad person, really! He's j-just like that!"

Ochako was simply confused.

"Was I just drafted? Is that what happened?"

"You! How dare you!" A very familiar tall young man with neatly-combed hair, sharp eyebrows and glasses was immediately in front of the group, "Be gentler with the doors! Such an action is insulting to those who came to U.A. before us as well as the craftsmen who made that door! And threatening people you just met with explosions?! Do you really want to be a Hero?!"

"Eh?" Katsuki leaned in slightly, just enough to invade the other student's personal space, "Who the hell are you, Extra? What middle school are you from?"

"Ah, I-I am from Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida." The newly-introduced Tenya was clearly taken aback at this reaction to his mini lecture.

"Somei?! So, you're a stuck-up elitist then? Should I blow you up right here?"

"Kacchan, that's enough! We literally _just_ talked about this!" Izuku was still in a half-bow towards the rest of the class, but now his head was turned to look at Katsuki with an irritated expression on his face.

"Deku, you gotta lay down the ground rules in situations like this. Everyone will just walk all over you otherwise."

"You don't know that! We _just_ met all these people! We don't even know their names yet apart from Iida-san here, and you're already assuming the worst! At least give them a _chance_!" Izuku was no longer bowing at this point. He was ignoring the rest of the class in favor of chewing out his friend. Katsuki looked like he was about to yell back, but Tenya interjected.

"That was well said. I remember you from the entrance exam…"

"Midoriya. Izuku Midoriya."

"Midoriya-san. Your point has resonated with me. In talking to your friend, you were rebuking _me_ just as much, weren't you? Just like how you perceived the true nature of the practical exam where I did not. I have misjudged you twice now, and I apologize for that."

Izuku had no idea what Iida was talking about, but he seemed to be calming down, so he let the other boy continue. Iida turned back to Bakugo.

"I apologize for being so harsh with you. What you did was wrong, but I should not have taken that as license to question your desire to become a Hero. I was out of line."

"Yeah, well," Katsuki was clearly not expecting such a change of heart, "Deku has a point, I guess. You all got into U.A. the same as I did, so maybe you're more than just Extras, and maybe you aren't. Either way, I can't know that yet. Doesn't change the fact that I'm Number One."

Tenya looked like he was about to rebuke Bakugo again, but Izuku caught his eye, mouthing "let it go" over and over again.

"Yes, well then, perhaps we could redo our introductions? I am Tenya Iida. Class 1-A student."

"Katsuki Bakugo. Same." Tenya's hand twitched like he was about to offer a handshake but thought better of it. Izuku elbowed his friend in the ribs, knowing he had seen this motion.

"Tch." Bakugo took the hint and extended his hand half-heartedly. Iida took it and shook briefly, but firmly. He then turned his attention to Izuku, who immediately did as was expected of him.

"My name is Izuku Midoriya. Class 1-A student. It's nice to meet you, Iida-san."

"Likewise, Midoriya-san." The two of them shook hands much more readily than Katsuki had. Tenya than turned to Ochako and bowed slightly.

"Forgive me. I did not mean to ignore you this whole time."

"Ah, it's fine, really! I'm Ochako Uraraka, and I'm in 1-A too. Nice to meet you, Iida-san."

"While it's nice to see you students getting along and everything, if socializing is all you're here for, then you may as well just leave."

All heads turned to the doorway, only to see nobody there.

"Eek! Is that a giant caterpillar?!"

"What, where?!"

"There! On the ground! It has a face!"

"Is that a juice box?"

The so-called caterpillar rose from the floor outside of the classroom and began to unzip, revealing it to actually be a rather haggard-looking man in a full-body sleeping bag. He wore a loose-fitting black outfit with a thick bundle of some sort of white cloth resting on his shoulders and surrounding his neck. Bloodshot eyes and an unshaven jaw were visible beneath his wild mane of jet-black hair.

"It took you all about eight seconds to quiet down, and that was _after_ you thought I was a giant caterpillar. You all aren't very rational, are you? Time is a precious resource and caterpillars don't talk." He finished extricating himself from his sleeping bag, and began rummaging around within it, "I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Pleased to meet you all, I guess. Now," he pulled out a bundle of clothing from the sleeping bag, "change into your gym clothes and be quick about it. Head out into the grounds after that."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"I don't get it; shouldn't we have an entrance ceremony or guidance sessions or something? It's not even the first day of actual classes yet!" Ochako Uraraka was confused, as was everyone else. Nobody had outright said anything, but the students had instinctively waited until everyone was changed before heading out to the track area.

Or rather, Midoriya, Bakugo, and Iida had all finished changing first, and had decided to wait for everyone else, which then turned into everyone else waiting for everyone else. While it might have been unintentional, the brief confrontation between those three had made one hell of a first impression. Ochako in particular had had a front row seat to it, and she was mesmerized. Bakugo and Iida both had such strong personalities, but Deku had been able to make them back down and reconcile, albeit reluctantly.

That wasn't even mentioning how Deku had diffused Bakugo just a few minutes earlier when he was way more upset with _her_ than he was with Iida. Ochako had been on the receiving end of the explosive boy's intimidating temper, so the fact that Iida had just stood there without it seeming to affect him and had even given some of it _back_ impressed her.

Not that she had ever thought differently, but Ochako was now more convinced than ever that U.A was full of amazing people. They all wanted to be Heroes too, though their reasons were probably more noble than hers. Either way, she really hoped that they could all be friends and work together. If two polar opposites like Bakugo and Iida could at least be civil with each other, then it should be no problem, right?

Speaking of Bakugo and Iida, the pair of them were the first to respond to her inquiry, though their responses were predictably opposite each other on the spectrum:

"I have heard that one of the reasons U.A. is so highly regarded is because of its unorthodox teaching methods. Traditions that are viewed as outdated or unnecessary are either changed or eschewed entirely. The Sports Festival is one such example, being used as a joint fundraiser and scouting opportunity."

"Who gives a shit about stuff like that? If they wanna skip a boring-ass entrance ceremony and get right to the good stuff, I say halle-fuckin'-lujah."

"I think both of you have good points, honestly. Knowing about the history of U.A. and the methods to the madness is interesting, but I'm not going to say no to skipping the ceremonies and getting straight to work either." And there was Deku as the moderator. He was even walking in between the two of them, like he was scared they would start fighting or something.

Upon further reflection, Ochako decided this was probably a product of him being friends with Bakugo for a long time. He was probably used to being the voice of reason, given the other boy's demeanor. That must have taken some getting used to. He really was a super-nice guy.

It was then that she noticed that Deku was fiddling with something metallic in his hand at his side. It looked kind of like…

"Deku-kun, is that a lighter? You don't smoke, do you?"

That caused the three boys in front to immediately freeze in their tracks, albeit for different reasons.

"Smoking?! Surely not! Tell me you do not engage in such activities, Midoriya-san!" Iida gesticulated wildly as he spoke, an expression of absolute horror on his face.

"Eh? Oh, I guess you took mom's advice to heart. Nice design." Bakugo was more curious about the lighter itself, having snatched and examined it carefully.

"Eh? I-uh, no! Yes!" Poor Deku was having a minor meltdown trying to respond to three people at the same time. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Uraraka-san and Iida-san, I promise I don't smoke, and I have permission from the school to have that with me." The rest of the class had now stopped, curious as to why the three students in the lead had stopped. Izuku sighed before answering the unasked question, "It's for my Quirk. If Kacchan would give it back, I can show you why. We should probably keep walking or Aizawa-sensei will be mad."

Bakugo tossed the lighter back to Deku, and everyone started walking again, though they had partially surrounded the lead group to get a better look at Deku's demonstration. Ochako again had a good view, having been slightly closer than the rest of them. She was glad that Deku didn't smoke, but what was he going to do then? She had not had the opportunity to see exactly how he had fought the Zero back at the entrance exam, just that there had been lots of fire and he had done a number on his arm. It almost looked like he had punched fire at it.

The boy flicked open the lighter, which Ochako now saw had a torch design on either side and thumbed the igniter. A small flame appeared and, after taking a couple moments to concentrate, Deku pursed his lips and began to inhale slowly. The small flame detached itself from the lighter, made its way towards Deku's mouth, and was promptly eaten. With the exception of Bakugo, who had seen this before, everyone found this extremely interesting.

"So…what does that taste like?" The first person to speak up was a boy with medium-length blonde hair that had a distinctive black streak along his bangs that resembled a lightning bolt.

"Well, you see, uh…"

"Denki Kaminari. I'm very cool and you should totally come to me for any advice with the ladies."

"…Kaminari-san. From what I can tell it actually changes depending on the fuel that's used for the flames. Standard lighter fluid doesn't taste all that good, really. It's got this weird aftertaste to it that I don't really like. Some types of scented candles taste okay. Cinnamon, citrus, fruity, ones like that. I haven't had too much opportunity to try that many different varieties of…fire."

"If it doesn't taste good, then why do you carry it around? I'm Mina Ashido, by the way." A girl with pink skin, yellow-on-black eyes, horns, and pink hair that was every bit as poofy as Deku's spoke up next.

"That would be because I use the flames I consume to fuel my Quirk, Ashido-san. I got permission to carry my lighter around with me because there's no guarantee that there will be any fire handy whenever I need to use my Quirk, and I can only keep so much stored up at once."

"Midoriya-san, ribbit," a girl with long, dark green hair and an overall frog-like appearance tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, "Tsuyu Asui. Nice to meet you. Since you ate some just now, then doesn't that mean you weren't fully stocked up? It seems like it would have been a good idea to stock up beforehand."

"You are absolutely correct, Asui-san. The problem with that is, unless it's a large fire, I put it out when I attract the flames to me. Since I can't just go around setting things on fire just to charge my Quirk…"

Tsuyu nodded in understanding, only responding with a "Ribbit."

"So, is nobody going to ask him what his Quirk actually _does_? Guess I'll do that then." A tall, lean young man with cylinder-shaped elbows and a toothy grin gave Deku a friendly wave, "Heya, name's Hanta Sero. Mind breaking the suspense and telling us what your Quirk does?"

"It's really cool! He's super strong and he can punch fire!" Ochako gushed before Deku had the chance to respond, "He took down one of those zero-pointers during the practical exam!"

"Dude, no way! That's manly as hell!" A young man with spiky red hair and sharp-looking teeth threw an arm around Deku's shoulders, grinning from ear to ear, "You totally need to be bros with me! I'm Eijiro Kirishima!"

"Ah, Kirishima-san, it really wasn't anything like that. I was scared to death and Uraraka-san was in trouble and my body just kind of moved on its own. I don't want to build false expectations or anything…"

"Ah~ So 'twas this mademoiselle that was able to spur you into action! So romantic! Tres bien!" Ochako's vision was suddenly full of sparkling eyes, blonde hair, and a sharp smile as a thin young man wearing a large metallic belt with a circular lense in the center appeared in front of her and struck a dramatic pose, "I, Yuga Aoyama, the twinkling connoisseur of all things fine and glamorous, shall be the first to congratulate you! Nothing sparkles quite like youthful romance~"

"Kyaah~ Are you serious?! The first day isn't even over and we already have the first class couple?! I can't stop blushing!" a girl's voice was coming from a set of gym clothes that appeared to be floating, "Oh, right, you can't tell because I'm invisible. Sorry~ I'm Tooru Hagakure!"

Ochako felt her face heating up and could see that Deku was a stuttering mess as Kirishima was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, arm still over his shoulder. Before she could say or do anything, Bakugo came to the rescue.

"Oi, before anyone else keeps barking up that tree, you should know that's not how it is. This is only the second or third time they've even seen each other. They only just officially became friends on the way to the classroom this morning. Not that I care, but it'll get annoying if Deku is so embarrassed that he can't even function."

It was at that point that Ochako realized that Bakugo had heard her and Deku's conversation earlier. Either she wasn't as quiet as she thought or he had good hearing. She was relieved that the situation had been corrected so quickly. She was also beginning to become thankful that this was only a half day, with how eventful things had already been.

At least half of the class had introduced themselves at this point. More probably would have followed, but it was then that they got within speaking distance of Aizawa, who looked very annoyed…though maybe that was just how he always looked?

"Sorry to interrupt the socializing, but it's time to get down to business. We're going to be testing your Quirks today."

"So, there's no entrance ceremony or anything?" Ochako really wanted that question answered. It was bugging her for some reason.

"There's no time to waste on that stuff if you want to become Heroes." Aizawa waved a dismissive hand, "U.A. is all about its freestyle education system, and that applies to us teachers as well." He then indicated a series of spots around the school grounds that had been rigged with various sensors and pieces of equipment, "Softball throwing, standing long-jump, fifty-meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-stepping, upper-body training, and the seated toe-touch. You did all these things in middle school, right? Standardized, no-quirks-allowed gym tests."

Aizawa began to pace up and down in front of the students.

"This country still insists on prohibiting Quirks when calculating the average fitness records of you kids. It's completely irrational. Quirks are physical abilities too and the Department of Education is just procrastinating because the variety makes it harder to standardize." Aizawa stopped in front of one student in particular, "Bakugo. How far could you throw in middle school?"

"Sixty-seven meters." Bakugo responded quickly enough, even though he was clearly not expecting to be singled-out. Aizawa then directed him to stand at one of the stations in the middle of a circle about the size of a pitcher's mound and tossed him a specially-constructed softball.

"Great. Now try it with your Quirk. Do whatever you need to do, but don't leave that circle. Give it all you've got."

"Heh. Awesome." Bakugo took a moment to stretch before hauling back and hurling the ball skyward with a massive explosion, " **DIE**!"

Eventually, the ball must have hit the ground, as the phone-like device in Aizawa's hand began to beep and displayed a number that he then showed to the class. Seven-hundred and five point-two meters.

"It's important for us to establish a baseline. We need to know what your limits are. That's the first rational step to figuring out what kind of Heroes you'll be."

As the smoke from Bakugo's explosion finished clearing, the students started to talk amongst themselves.

"Whoa, this is seriously awesome!"

"Seven-hundred and five meters? Seriously?"

"We can use our Quirks for real here! The Hero course is great!"

"I'm gonna Rock this!"

"Tres bien~"

"Awesome, you say?" Aizawa put a stop to the talking with three simple words, and the class felt an eerie wave of pressure emanating from their teacher before he continued, a thoroughly disturbing look on his face, "You're hoping to become Heroes after just three years here…and you think it'll be all fun and games?"

Ochako couldn't move or breathe. Killing intent. That must be what this was. She'd heard about it but had never felt it herself before now. The ability to freeze someone in their tracks with sheer charisma and willpower. A quick glance around showed that a large portion of the class was similarly affected. Notably, Bakugo, Deku, and a boy with half white, half red hair and mismatched eyes with a burn scar over his left eye seemed fine. Did this mean that they had felt this kind of thing before? How? When?

"Right." Their teacher's voice was flat and deliberate. Completely devoid of mercy or tenderness, and it sent shivers down her spine, "The one with the lowest cumulative score across all eight events will be judged to be absolutely hopeless…and will be expelled."

"WHAT?!" Kirishima was the only one who had the presence of mind to question this sudden twist. Aizawa brushed his bangs upwards away from his face with one hand, and his smile made him look like he was about to eat a baby or something. Ochako could have sworn his eyes were _glowing_.

"That's right, kids. Your fates are in _our_ hands now. You wanted an entrance ceremony? Fine. _Welcome to the Hero course at U.A. High_!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku didn't know what to make of this situation. It wasn't even their official first day yet and their teacher had just told them that one of them was already going to be expelled. It didn't make sense!

"That's totally unfair!" Uraraka suddenly found her voice next to him though the Killing Intent being levelled at them by Aizawa. Deku could feel his limbs shaking, but he wasn't frozen. He had felt this kind of sensation before when he had fought the Sludge Villain, so he knew that Aizawa wasn't being serious with it. He was just trying to scare them, and damned if it wasn't working.

"Unfair? Of course it is." Aizawa shrugged and gestured towards the world around them, "Natural disasters, highway pileups, rampaging villains and that's just to name a few things. Calamity is always right around the corner. I'd say Japan, hell, _the world_ , is full of unfair things. Heroes are the ones who correct all of that unfairness. If you were hoping to spend your evenings hanging out at the arcade or a fast food restaurant, then I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but for the next three years, U.A. will put you through the _goddamn wringer._ " His smile then became more of a smirk as he crooked a finger at his students, "So bring it. Use your strength and your resolve to overcome everything we throw at you. That's Plus Ultra."

The first event was the fifty-meter dash. Aizawa paired the students off to expedite the process, citing this as the rational thing to do. Whether purposefully or not, he also put the student who was best suited for this event in the first pairing: Tenya Iida was paired with Tsuyu Asui.

As soon as Aizawa gave the go sign, steam erupted from the engines in Iida's calves and he shot across the track in an incredible three point-zero four seconds. Asui was no slouch, with her frog-like body giving her powerful jumping capabilities, but she was no match for the Engine Quirk user with a time of five point-five eight seconds.

Uraraka was paired up with a boy named Mashirao Ojiro, a muscular young man who possessed a rather beefy-looking tail. Izuku saw her touching all of her clothing and guessed that she was trying to increase her speed by reducing the weight of her outfit. Ojiro bounded ahead of her, using his tail to get himself a head start, and finished with a time of six point-three two seconds, while she herself finished with a time of seven point-one five seconds.

The pair immediately after this one contained Mina Ashido and Yuga Aoyama. The twinkling boy had the same expression on his face as before and approached the starting line with a confident air about him.

"Heheh…A good showing so far, I suppose, but you are all just so unimaginative." He turned and faced the opposite way of the finish line, not even bothering to take a ready position. "If we can use our Quirks…" Aoyama jumped into the air the instant before Aizawa gave the go sign, and when it was given, he shot a laser beam of glittering energy from the belt centered over his navel, "…then there's no better way than this!"

He had shot off of the starting line with incredible speed, and for a moment, it looked like he would come close to matching Iida, but then just past the halfway point the laser gave out and he landed flat on his back. In the time it took him to recover, jump, and fire again, Ashido had passed him and just managed to make it over the finish line before he did, with a time of five point-three two seconds as opposed to his five point-five one. In spite of his now-scuffed outfit, Aoyama looked as self-satisfied as he had before.

"Heheh…If I had fired an instant earlier, then my stomach would have exploded."

Izuku just couldn't read that guy and, from her puzzled expression, neither could Ashido.

Izuku didn't get his turn until the second to last pair, which was him and Katsuki. He knew exactly what his explosive friend was going to do too, it was a move he had seen him practice before.

"Blast Rush Turbo!" a rapid series of explosions propelled him forward far more quickly than anyone except Iida had yet managed. Izuku himself used the starting line to his advantage and kicked off of the braces with one of his Smashes, using the Smash Run he had developed at the practical exam.

Kacchan had the incredible time of four point-one three seconds, and Izuku finished with a perfectly respectable time of five point-four nine seconds, a full two seconds faster than his middle school record.

 _I could have gone faster, but it takes time to build up that kind of speed. I'll bet that Iida-san has the same problem. Still, if I can keep up this level of performance, it should keep me out of the bottom spot._

The second event was grip strength, which Izuku was fairly confident in. He actually got rather into it, making a show of eating a flame from his lighter to "recharge" before shouting out "Smash!" and gripping as hard as he could. The result showed one-hundred forty kilograms of force.

This was over three times what he had managed in middle school, with that being forty kilograms back when he was partway through his training with All Might. He was very satisfied with this, in spite of two students in particular blowing him out of the water.

The first was an extremely muscular young man named Rikido Sato, who had short, spiky hair and very full lips. Izuku had observed him eating what looked like pure sugar before bulking up slightly and managing to exert over two-hundred fifty kilograms of force.

The second, and the runaway for first place by far, was Mezo Shoji. Standing taller than any other member of the class at over six feet with six muscular arms and a mask covering every part of his face below his eyes, he had woven the three hands on his left side through the reader and managed a herculean five-hundred forty kilograms of force. Sero in particular was extremely impressed.

The third event was the standing long-jump. Aoyama and Bakugo once again acquitted themselves well using the same strategies they had for the fifty-meter dash, and Asui was a big contender too, given her incredible jumping prowess. Izuku was no slouch himself, but he couldn't compare to them.

The fourth event was side-stepping. A strange little boy with detachable purple spheres for hair named Minoru Mineta took this one and ran with it as he bounced back and forth effortlessly between two stacks of his "grapes."

Izuku choked on this event. His enhanced strength did little when he had to absorb and then reflect the force from each of his Smashes, and it tired him out more than it needed to. He was kicking himself after it was all over. That had been stupid and unnecessary.

The fifth event was the one Aizawa had used to introduce the idea of their Quirk assessment: the softball throw. Since Katsuki had already done this, he was exempt. Izuku was starting to get nervous, given his subpar performance in the fourth event and just okay performance in the third. He knew, logically, that his physical abilities across the board were well above average thanks to One For All, but the pressure of Aizawa's threat to the class was looming over him.

The fact that Uraraka had just managed a score of INFINITY after having caused her ball to leave the atmosphere was certainly not helping matters. Not that Izuku wasn't happy for her; he was just terrified for himself.

 _Everyone has at least one amazing record…that's going to skew the results. I need to go all-out for this one. How much fire do I have stocked up? Not a lot, but that's a good thing, right? Too much and I'll just end up hurting myself._

He stepped up to the plate, ball in hand.

 _Alright. Remember what you and All Might discussed after you escaped the beach…_

" _Hmm, I see. So you have access to some of One For All's power at all times, which is helpful, but to access more you need fuel in the form of fire, from what you can tell."_

" _That's right."_

" _How did you feel when you used its power before?"_

" _I felt…desperate, at first. I was scared."_

" _For yourself?"_

" _At first, yeah, but more than that…it was that girl, Uraraka-san. I knew I needed to do something or she would get hurt…maybe killed. I know in hindsight that U.A. wouldn't let that happen, but I wasn't thinking that at the time."_

" _Naturally. That was by design."_

" _So, I ran through everything I thought I could do, all of my options, and all I could think to do was bring in fire. There was a lot of it, so I just inhaled, getting ready to scream out and let loose with whatever I could, and I ended up eating the fire. As I did, I could feel this…power…welling up inside me. It was like a flame getting bigger and hotter until it raged out of control, and I could feel it in my heart, one emotion driving all others aside: anger."_

" _Anger, my boy?"_

" _Yeah. At myself mostly. Here was someone who needed me, really, truly needed me, but I couldn't do anything. I thought, 'what did I go through all of this for then, if the first time someone needs me I can't do anything to help them?' and then everything just…clicked. My instincts took over and I knew what to do."_

" _I believe that the first step in learning to control this power will be to learn to use it at will. You will likely injure yourself at first, so I recommend not eating large amounts of fire until you become more skilled, but remember how you felt then. Stoke the fires within your heart and cry out just like you did then!"_

Izuku dug deep within himself. He tried with all his might to remember exactly how he felt. It wasn't hard, but he needed to make himself angry when he was nothing but scared at the moment.

 _Think. Think damnit! There will be others. There will be others just like Uraraka-san in the future who need you, and if you get expelled now then you won't be there for them!_

He could feel his internal fire starting to flicker, but it wasn't enough.

Why?

Why wasn't this enough? Wasn't this what Heroes were supposed to do? Wasn't this what Heroes were supposed to be _for_?! He wanted to help people! He really did!

So why?

Why didn't it resonate within him like it did back then?

 _Damn you, Deku! Are you going to let everyone down?! Kacchan, who wanted you to be with him through thick and thin?! Mom, who was so, so proud that you were finally able to pursue your dream?! All Might, who believed in you so much that he_ _ **put his legacy on the line for you**_ _?!_

… _Uraraka-san, the first person you were able to save by your own power, who called you her friend, looked at everyone with a straight face, and couldn't wait to tell them how cool you were?_

A spark. A flash. The fire was spreading.

 _You don't deserve that. You don't deserve THEM._

Teeth gritted. Knuckles cracked from the force of gripping the ball.

 _You knew that. You knew you were blessed. You've been given what so many people in this world would give_ anything _to have. What so many others take for granted._

Eyes that were no longer green snapped open, glowing like coals.

 _So the least you can do is make damn sure that at the end of the day you've done everything you can to EARN that which you've been given!_

Flames sprung from Izuku's hand, but from the sheer force of his will, crept no higher. It was easier this time to control the fire, probably because he was only running on a fraction of what he had used before. But still, he could feel the power coursing through him as the flames licked at his flesh. Without further ado, he let the ball fly with what was quickly becoming his signature battle-cry:

"BURN!"

It streaked through the air like a miniature meteorite, trailing fire as it flew until it hit the ground. Thankfully, the fire on his hand had left with it.

"Three-hundred forty-five meters. Less than you should be capable of, but…" Aizawa roped Izuku over to him with the bundle of fabric around his neck, which shot out like it had a mind of its own.

"Show me your hand, Midoriya."

Izuku grimaced, but did as he was told. The skin from his fingertips to his wrist was badly burnt, probably second-degree, and it stung horribly. The joints in his hand ached, but it was nowhere near as bad as when he had smashed up his entire arm fighting the Zero. It felt like he had pulled some muscles in his back and shoulder from the force of the throw too, and his elbow ached a bit.

"Flex your fingers."

Izuku did. His hand screamed in protest, but he was able to move it normally.

"Not an ideal situation, but you still look like you have full functionality. Whether by accident or design, you pushed yourself to the limit and used as much power as you could without disabling yourself. A rational solution." Aizawa released his student and gave him a smile that, while still creepy and out-of-place on his face, no longer promised immediate death, "I approve. I was this close to disabling your Quirk and giving you a stern talking-to, but it looks like that wasn't necessary."

"Disabling – ah!" that hint combined with the distinctive slitted goggles that Izuku could now see around his teacher's neck made him finally realize who he was dealing with, "You're the Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!"

"Who?" one of the onlookers asked. Izuku thought it might have been Kaminari, but he wasn't sure.

"He's an underground Hero who uses angler tactics to capture Villains at night! He can erase the Quirks of anyone he looks at until he blinks, and his capture tool is made of a super-strong combination of carbon fibers and special alloy wires!"

Aizawa blinked at his student, somewhat taken aback at the sudden spouting of information about a relatively unknown (on _purpose_ at that) Hero like himself.

"It's a hobby of his, Sensei! Don't worry too much about it." Bakugo helpfully supplied from the sidelines, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Hmm. Well, at any rate, Midoriya, you'll be working through the pain for the last three events, but after that I want you to go see Recovery Girl in the nurse's office, got that?"

"Yes, Eraserhead-sensei!" Eraserhead gave him a gentle shove towards his waiting classmates.

"It's Aizawa-sensei. Hero Names are for maintaining secret identities or doing field work. Everyone remember that; it'll be on a quiz or something."

Partway back to the group, Izuku was met by Aoyama, who gave him a thumbs-up and whispered conspiratorially, "That was stylishly done, Midoriya-san, but did you know that you were talking to yourself during that? I was standing a little closer than the others, so I'm not sure if any of them heard it, but you said that mademoiselle's name just before your fire was lit~"

Izuku froze in place and instinctively found Ochako's face amongst the onlookers, she was approaching along with Tenya, Katsuki, and Eijiro, and she looked concerned.

"Deku-kun! Is your hand okay? You didn't smash it up again like at the entrance exam, did you?" She gently took his burned hand in both of hers to examine it. It stung a bit, but her hands were pleasantly cool against his abused skin.

"No, it's nowhere near as bad as that. I can still use it, I just need to visit Recovery Girl once we're all done here." Iida spoke up next.

"Are you sure, Midoriya-san? I remember how you looked after that exam, and it wasn't good. I'm sure none of us would want you to cause yourself more injury without reason."

"Aw, he's _fine_." A hearty clap on the back from Kirishima sent Izuku stumbling forward a half-step, nearly causing him to collide with Uraraka. The sudden closeness caused him to go red again and he hurriedly stepped back. After a snicker, the redhead continued, "Guys as manly as us can ignore a little pain. Right, Midoriya?"

"Oui, oui, you have to be a strong, noble knight in front of your mademoiselle." Aoyama was wagging a finger at him like he was a naughty child, "You must be as the walls of Carcassonne: equal parts beautiful and unyielding!"

"Would you guys give it a rest with that already?" Katsuki waved Aoyama away before turning back to Izuku, "Good throw. The trail of fire it left behind was a nice touch. Come on, just a few more to go then it's time for event six."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The remaining three events of endurance running, upper body training, and seated toe-touching went by rather uneventfully. Izuku performed well enough in each one, but the upper body training was made harder by his injured hand.

"Alright, time for the results." Aizawa stood in front of his students, all eyes were on him, "Your total scores simply reflect your performance in the events. Explaining the process would be a waste of time, so all you're getting from me are the final rankings. Oh, also I was lying about expelling someone." He clicked a button on his measuring device and a holographic screen came up. The class was dumbfounded as they were subjected to the most out-of-place shit-eating grin they had ever seen, "That was a rational deception meant to bring out the best in all of you. I'd say it succeeded, wouldn't you?"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" the more vocal half of the class shouted in disbelief.

"Well, of course it was a lie. It didn't take much to figure that out." Momo Yaoyorozu, a well-endowed girl with a swirly ponytail said. She hadn't outright won any of the events except for the toe-touch, but her scores were consistently high across the board.

The score board finished loading up, and Izuku saw that the top three were Momo Yaoyorozu, Shoto Todoroki, and Kaccchan with Iida in fourth. Uraraka was in tenth. He went down the list and found himself in fourteenth place between Asui and Aoyama. Mineta came in at the bottom, his only exceptional score being the side-stepping.

 _Well, I guess he lucked out, huh?_

"Anyway, we're done here. Your documents about the curriculum and such are back in the classroom. Give them a look and then go home." He signed a piece of paper and handed it to Izuku. "You go to the nurse's office first, Midoriya. Tomorrow's trials aren't gonna be any easier, so make sure she fixes you up good, you got that?"

"Yes, Aizawa-sensei!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Aizawa, you big fat liar!" All Might accosted Shota as soon as he was out of sight of the students, wearing his tan suit. The Erasure Hero gave him a deadpan look.

"All Might, so you were watching, huh? Good to know you don't mind wasting time. Shouldn't you be planning their lesson for tomorrow?"

"Don't worry, I've got it all planned out. Everything will be All Might!" Shota's eyes rolled back so far in his sockets that they nearly reversed themselves, "But _you_! A 'rational deception' you say?! April Fool's Day has come and gone! I read your file, you know. Last year you expelled an _entire class of first years_." All Might gestured as he spoke, "You mercilessly discard those with zero prospects, but now you go back on your word? Why did you let young Mineta continue? Could it be that you see potential in him?"

"Not in the conventional sense, no."

Well, that was blunt. Shota was not finished though:

"I watched and re-watched the recordings of the practical. Mineta is not conventionally powerful, but he's smart when it comes to using his Quirk. I've decided to give him a chance, nothing more. If at any point I decide that he has no prospects, I'll cut him loose without a second thought. There's nothing crueler than letting someone chase half-baked dreams that they have no chance of ever fulfilling."

All Might really couldn't say anything to that. He was damned glad it hadn't been his Midoriya in that last spot, or things might have gotten messy for the young man.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku was tired. So very, very tired. It was because of Recovery Girl's Quirk, as she had explained to him.

" _My Quirk boosts your own healing factor, but the energy required for that comes from your own pool of stamina. Be thankful your injuries are nowhere near as bad as last time, or it'd be even worse. If you kept smashing up your body like that, then eventually it'd be too much and you'd die."_

A sudden hand on his shoulder jerked Izuku out of his reverie.

"Midoriya-san, glad I caught up with you. How's your hand?" It was Iida, looking as serious as ever.

"Oh, it's all better, see?" Izuku held up his bandaged hand and waggled his fingers for Iida's benefit, "Recovery Girl is great. She healed it up just enough so that it'll be back to one hundred percent after a good night's sleep with these bandages on."

"Good, good. You know, I still can't get over what Aizawa-sensei did!" Iida put one hand on his chin while the other waved around every which way, "He seriously fooled us! He made me think 'this is how it is at the top,' but it was all deception! How could our own instructor lie to us like that?! You know what I mean?"

"Hey, Iida-san, Deku-kun! Are you headed for the station? Wait up!" Ochako was practically skipping down the hallway towards them. As she approached, Tenya looked between the pair with curiosity evident on his face.

"I had been meaning to ask earlier, but your first name is 'Izuku' isn't it? Why do Uraraka-san and Bakugo-san call you 'Deku?'"

"Oh, I can answer that one!" Uraraka had drawn level with the pair by now and they all started walking together, "See, Deku-kun and Bakugo-san are old friends, and that's his nickname, just like how you've heard Deku-kun call Bakugo-san 'Kacchan.' As for me, I just really like the way it sounds. It just screams 'you can do it!' to me. And Deku-kun said it was okay, so…yeah." She looked at Izuku for confirmation, "Right?"

"Er, y-yeah! That's pretty much it." Ochako did a victorious fist pump, clearly pleased with herself.

"Ah, I see. Thank you for the explanation, Uraraka-san, Midoriya-san."

The trio continued in silence until they reached the gates, where they found Katsuki waiting. He looked at Iida for a moment before shrugging and falling into step with them.

"Got another one in the posse, huh? Sure, speed would be useful to have. Now we've got that, gravity, firepower, and plain old regular power. Kirishima wanted to hang out too, but he needs to leave right when class ends or he has to wait like three hours for the next train. He asked me to tell you that, Deku, so make sure you tell him I did that tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll do that, Kacchan!"

"Don't call me 'Kacchan.'"

"Don't call me 'Deku.'"

"Fuck you, I'll call you what I want."

"Fair enough. Same here then."

Tenya looked to Ochako with an expression of confusion on his face, gesturing between the other two boys.

"Heehee, you'll get used to it, Iida-san. That's just how they are."

Tenya took a moment to process that there were people who could be friends and still say "fuck you" to each other like that, eventually filed it under "things that I don't really understand but will just have to roll with," and kept walking with his new friends…and Bakugo.

* * *

 **So, things to address:**

 **How much power did Izuku use to throw that ball? Fifteen percent for a 7.5x boost. This is not to suggest that he would be able to handle fifteen percent Full-Cowl or anything of that nature, just that one usage of fifteen percent isn't quite enough to break anything. Consecutive uses would probably do it though.**

 **I'm not sure what that thing is that Aizawa displays the data on. It could very well be his phone, but I decided to just make it part of the gym equipment.**

 **I do not really know any French, so Aoyama's vocabulary in that regard will probably be limited, unless someone wants to give me a short list of words or phrases (I know bonjour, tres bien, monsieur, mademoiselle, oui, non, un, deux, trois, merci, amour, and off the top of my head that's about it).**

 **I'm super glad we've gotten far enough to start seeing more characters in the story. I like working with these guys.**

 **For anyone else for whom Mineta is not exactly their favorite character, sorry, but we're not getting rid of him that easily. It'll take more than that.**

 **Alternate title for this chapter: Time Is A Precious Resource And Caterpillars Don't Talk.**

 **Next time we're getting started with the Battle Trial! There's a chance it'll be all wrapped up in a single chapter, but don't count on it. We're going to be seeing each fight after all.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9: An Unmitigated Disaster

**They just keep getting longer XD. Let's get right to it!**

 **Review time:**

 **ssjzohan: No worries. I won't ignore any of my reviewers. You took the time to review so I'll take the time to respond.**

 **For starters, I don't _hate_ the Grapist per se. He certainly has potential and can be a game-changer. Him soloing Midnight in canon is proof enough of that. It's just that I need him gone so I can make room for a certain _other_ character that I like much, much more than I like him.**

 **Plus, the kind of behavior he exhibits is absolutely intolerable and would get you kicked out of any respectable institution in a heartbeat, and he never shows the slightest bit of remorse for it. I do have plans as to how this will happen, and I wonder if anyone can predict it before it happens.**

 **In short: Rest assured that I am not getting rid of him simply because I dislike him. I have actual, plot-relevant reasons for doing it. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.**

 **bens6757: Good point. I won't worry about it too much then. I'm just having fun involving him more than in canon.**

 **chunnin33: For now. I won't just arbitrarily get rid of a character. It all has to happen organically as part of the plot.**

 **C. : I am glad to hear that and thank you. I deliberately set out to make sure Izuku was as balanced as possible (obviously since he has One For All, a true Superpower, his potential is still nuts, but you know what I mean). Nothing is more boring to me than an OP main character that can just plow his way through everything.**

 **The 0bservanc3: Thank you! So the deal with that is that to use his 5% smash, he doesn't need fuel. That's a base ability he gets from One For All. To tap into more than that, and to expel fire, he does need to store up flames to use as fuel. He's trying to sell the idea that he can't use his strength _at all_ without consuming fire because he's still trying to pass off One For All as a different part of his own Quirk for the purposes of maintaining secrecy. The little bits and pieces he consumes over time do also build up for when he actually needs them, so that's a plus.**

 **I don't think you have anything to worry about in that department (looks up towards ssjzohan response). As for the class presidency, I have plans for that. The voting will certainly be much different than in canon, even if the overall end result is similar (certain characters are just better suited for certain things).**

 **The Battle Trial teams are, with the exception of one, completely different than in canon. See how they turned out in this chapter! As for ships, I only have one set in stone at this moment, so who knows what else could happen?**

 **I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. Thank you again!**

 **TheGodfather93: Thank you for this. I try to keep things moving without rushing them along, and I'm glad to see that's working. I'm also glad that I managed to make a character that you normally dislike at least tolerable for you. I'm certainly doing my best to make everyone still feel like themselves.**

 **One of my biggest pet peeves with Shounen manga is them taking forever to make anything happen with their romantic sub-plots. I have some ideas for this one, and I'm certainly not planning on rushing it along. As with everything else, I'm going to try and make it feel as organic as possible, going off what little experience I myself possess.**

 **As for my update schedule, the promise that I've made is one chapter every two weeks at a minimum. So far I've been able to post one every week (with the exception of the first few which were all posted in the same weekend), which is nice. I agree wholeheartedly about being careful to avoid burnout, and I do also find that this gives ample time for reviews to come in. It is good advice and I think you for it.**

 **Hektols: Good old Ripple Effect in action. In my humble opinion, Aoyama would ship just about anyone. Same with Hagakure and Ashido. They just dig that stuff. The fact that the pair get along so well after a comparatively short time knowing each other only fuels this.**

 **I do have fun with these group interactions though. It's one of the reasons I was so eager to get to U.A.**

 **ScarletCatnip: I can neither confirm nor deny who his internship will be under due to spoilers. One thing though, he does not have Full Cowl yet. What he has is the ability to use a 5% smash at-will, but he can still only do it in one or two limbs at a time just like in canon. My Full Cowl will also be very different from the canon version and I'm really jazzed about it.**

 **I honestly had not considered someone just giving him a flamethrower, and that image is simultaneously hilarious and badass. I might just have to do something with that. Didn't consider that point about Momo being able to mimic Bakugo's Quirk either, but you're right about that too. She can create any non-living thing that she understands the chemical makeup of and, last I checked, explosives are not typically alive. She'd mess herself up for sure though, and then there's still the matter of how to set off the explosions. She could always just make grenades, though that might be a bit more lethality than she's comfortable with.**

 **wildtrance: Hopefully I address that to your satisfaction in this chapter.**

 **You know, this is actually something I've been debating for a while because we all know he's going to eat Todoroki's fire eventually (and Endeavor's for that matter). I'm still working on the exact method of figuring out how Quirk fire tastes, but if people want Todo to be tasty, then he can be tasty. I agree that the potential for hilarity and misunderstandings is limitless.**

 **RandomDude: Would you believe I had actually forgotten about the Aoyama canon scene when I wrote that? It just seemed to fit his character.**

 **Anyhow, I do have most of the major plot points already figured out, and that does include this particular ship. I do agree with some of the points you made though, and there is one in particular that I will certainly address:**

 **I understand that a lot of people feel that canon Ochako is a relatively flat character whose only real significance is that she likes the main character, and I understand why. That's why I'm going to expand the hell out of her (that didn't sound right...oh well). I have some serious plans for her, one or two of which is hinted at in this chapter.**

 **I am certainly pleased to hear that this isn't enough to take away your interest in this fic. You've been here since the beginning and I'm hoping you'll be here until the end. I do also appreciate the correction.**

 **It does feel like something Aizawa would do to each of his classes. He probably just likes to make them squirm a little. Moving up Izuku's ranking further was something I considered doing, but when I factored in the point that Aizawa makes about averaging everything together (and the fact that somehow Yaoyorozu was number one in spite of** _not_ **having any notable physical enhancements), I ended up deciding to keep him out of the top ten. He also screwed the pooch big time on a couple events (side-stepping for example) and that hurt him in the long run.**

 **Thank you again.**

 **origamishishou: First off, thank you for this image. It made me lol. It's also funny because I actually did have to double-check the manga while writing this chapter and I did indeed know that it's a sliding door. What he does isn't kicking it so much as just throwing it open really hard so it slams into it's frame within the wall. My old room actually had a sliding door, and it makes a surprising amount of noise when you "slam" it.**

 **Now, onto chapter nine!**

* * *

Chapter Nine: An Unmitigated Disaster

Katsuki Bakugo was conflicted. It was lunchtime, which meant it was halfway through his first official day at U.A. He and his posse had managed to commandeer a table without much difficulty, since there was only five of them and they could use one of the smaller ones.

Glasses, being the boy scout he was, had offered to hold down the fort until one of them came back with food. Redhead, whom Katsuki had quickly learned was the type to go all-out no matter what he was doing, had immediately dashed off, saying that he would be back quickly so that Glasses could get his food. He had made good on his word. From where Katsuki was in line, he saw Redhead stumble and nearly eat shit before he reached the table. Glasses said something, probably reprimanding him for his carelessness or lack of conduct or something stupid like that, and then got in line himself.

As he turned to face forward again, Katsuki caught sight of Deku and Round Fa-er, Uraraka. After Deku chewed his ass yesterday, he had resolved to at least try to remember _her_ name. He would learn Glasses' and Redhead's if they turned out to be worth it.

If Katsuki was being honest with himself, in the confines of his own head where nobody would _ever_ know he had said it, things were looking pretty good on that front. Glasses might have a stick shoved so far up his ass that it acted like a second spine, but he put that extra spine to good use; he had absolutely no problems with calling people out on their shit, and Katsuki respected that. As for Redhead, there really wasn't anything to say; the guy was earnest and forthright in the kind of way you only ever saw in movies or comic books. What you saw was what you got, and what Katsuki saw was the kind of guy that would be there for you come hell or high water, no questions asked.

Uraraka…well, it didn't really matter what _he_ thought of her. Deku had gotten attached and she didn't seem like a bad girl. Quirk had some interesting possibilities if that ball-throwing score of _fucking infinity_ was anything to go by. No, what gave Katsuki pause was that she was…different.

One of Katsuki's strongest features had always been his instincts. He had Redhead pegged from the moment the guy had first opened his mouth and he had only had to change his opinion of Glasses a little from first impressions. Uraraka though…he just couldn't get a read on her for some reason. It irritated him and whenever he tried to rattle her cage a little to gauge her reactions, Deku put a stop to it before he could get anywhere. He honestly wasn't sure whether to be annoyed with his friend about this, proud of him for showing a bit more spine, happy for him because he seemed to have found another friend, or concerned because neither of them really knew anything about this girl.

…Or maybe he was just putting too much thought into this because he was feeling protective of Deku. Still…something didn't feel right.

Oh hey, it was his turn in line. Maybe food would make him feel better. Lunch Rush couldn't be the Cooking Hero for nothing, right?

When Katsuki returned to the small, round table, Redhead, Deku, and Uraraka were already there, which just left Glasses.

"Look, all I'm saying is that I dig how enthusiastic he is. He gets pumped and you can't help but feel some of that energy!" Redhead was talking with Deku and Uraraka about something, and Katsuki could hazard a guess as to what.

"You talking about Present Mic?"

"Yeah," Uraraka confirmed, "Kirishima-san was talking about how he liked Present Mic's English class, so I asked him if he was good with English because it's…not one of my stronger subjects, ehehe." She shifted her gaze downwards and rubbed the back of her neck, prompting Deku to continue.

"And then Kirishima-san said that he's not good with English either, he just enjoys having Present Mic as a teacher because of his upbeat attitude and obvious enthusiasm for his subject."

"Yeah!" Redhead nodded vigorously, "It's like 'Plus Ultra', right? Give it your all and go beyond! It's cool to see that the teachers practice what they preach, you know?"

"Not gonna do you much good if you get an F though." Katsuki pointed out as he settled in and began eating in earnest. "Besides, what the hell's going on here anyway? Isn't this supposed to be a goddamn Hero Academy?" Deku looked at him with an expression of confusion on his face as he finished his latest mouthful.

"What do you mean, Kacchan? This is U.A. for sure! There's Pro Heroes everywhere, even in the kitchen!"

"I mean that we're halfway through our first official day and we haven't done anything related to Hero training yet! I didn't come here to study Math and Shit. That stuff's all easy anyway. I wanna get to the good stuff!" Redhead nodded in agreement, wearing a thoughtful expression.

"I hear you, man. It's hard to show off your manliness just sitting in a classroom taking notes."

"Worry not my friends!" a booming voice signaled Glasses' return, "A prestigious academy such as this no doubt has a plan regarding all aspects of its academics!" he was making those big, sweeping hand gestures again. One of these days he was going to knock something over or smack someone in the face and Katsuki was going to laugh at him, "Remember: this is still a high school. It only makes sense that they would have to teach more mundane topics in addition to Heroics. They _do_ also have courses such as Management and General Studies, you know."

"Okay," Katsuki set down his food for a moment, "riddle me this, Glasses: I understand that some people get their jollies in Hero Management and Support people can be useful, but why the _fuck_ would you come to U.A. for General Studies?"

It was actually Deku who responded, motioning for Glasses to start eating.

"There are a couple of possible reasons actually, Kacchan. Some people aren't cut out for Heroics or just don't want to be part of the industry, but they still have the qualifications to get into U.A. and they take it since it's such a prestigious school. It would look good on a college application for example." Katsuki was chewing his food, so he just nodded, prompting his friend to continue, "Now, the other possible reason is that there are some people who didn't qualify for the course they wanted based on the entrance exam results, but hope that they might be able to transfer into it later on if a space opens up." Deku choked on something and hurriedly gulped at his drink while Glasses thumped him on the back, resulting in minor spillage. Eventually, his immediate death was averted and he kept going, "It actually happens more often than you might think; the Hero course is notoriously brutal and not everyone sticks with it. Aizawa-sensei might have said expelling one of us was a logical ruse, but I guarantee you that if there was anyone there that he didn't think was up to scratch, he would have kicked them out right then and there."

Katsuki considered this for a moment before deciding that he totally agreed with Deku's assessment of Eraserhead. He would totally do something like that. Good riddance too; dead weight was the last thing the Hero industry needed. Glasses was nodding enthusiastically but said nothing due to having his mouth full. Redhead had no such reservations and said something along the lines of "Yuh, hid dwo fat." Uraraka seemed a bit shaken though.

"Now that I think about it, I guess that makes sense, but still, how can you say stuff like that so calmly, Deku-kun? Don't you feel like…I don't know, like you're jinxing it or something?" Deku sped up his chewing so he could respond, but Katsuki preempted him.

"Oi, Uraraka, are you saying that you think Deku might not make the cut, or are you talking about yourself here?"

"I…that's not…" Oh, he'd hit the nail on the head one-hundred percent. But that meant three, two, one-

"Kacchan, come on!" Right on cue.

"Deku, lemme finish. I've got a point to make here." He was not about to be interrupted this time, especially when he actually had something important to say. Deku must have seen that he wasn't messing around because he shut right the hell up.

"Uraraka, tell me something, what was your ranking in the entrance exam practical?" She was taken off-guard by that question. Good, it meant she couldn't hide anything.

"Um, I'm not sure. I mean, I got seventy-three points, so I probably did okay." Glasses and Redhead both did double-takes at this.

"Uraraka-san, that is a phenomenal score!"

"Hell yeah it is! That's more than just 'okay!'" After they had their moments, Katsuki continued.

"It's really not secret information or anything like that; I got it just by asking for it. I came in first with seventy-seven, Redhead came in second with seventy-four, you came in third with your seventy-three, Deku came in fourth with his seventy-two, and Glasses came in seventh with sixty-one." Katsuki propped his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. "Do you guys understand what this shit _means_? It means that right here, at this table, we have half of the top ten. If Glasses had just a few more points, we would be _all_ of the top _five_. That spot was filled by someone named Shiozaki with sixty-eight points."

Katsuki gave it a moment for what he had just said to penetrate everyone's skulls. Redhead was the first one to really get it.

"Holy shit. We're freaking _awesome_. This group is pure, concentrated manliness!"

"Er…"

"You too, Uraraka! Girls can be manly too. If anything, it's kinda hot." This prompted Uraraka to go pink and Glasses to wave his arms around like a maniac. Before the situation could devolve too much, Katsuki cleared his throat. He wasn't done.

"So, Uraraka, if you came in third but you're saying you don't think you're good enough, then what does that mean for everyone who scored lower than that? They not good enough too? Is everyone gonna flunk out except for me and Redhead? Hell, he only beat you by one point, so maybe he's out too?" Uraraka's eyes were wide as she took in his words.

"No! That's not what I'm saying at all!"

"So you _are_ good enough then?"

"That's not what-" He was getting there, just one more push.

"So you _aren't_?"

"It's not about being good enough!" She was breathing heavily, as if it had cost her to say that. Katsuki was primed and ready to take advantage of this new opening, but Deku had apparently had enough.

"Kacchan, you've made your point." the steel was back in his eyes as quickly as his hand was on her shoulder, "Enough."

"Tch." Katsuki just shrugged and went back to his food, "Whatever. As long as she gets it. Heroes can't afford to doubt themselves."

The rest of their lunch passed by in relative silence as they considered his words.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The tension was mounting in Class 1-A. Everyone knew who their teacher would be for today's Heroics lesson, and they were all excited to see him. Izuku in particular was looking forward to seeing him again.

Suddenly, the door snapped open and a massive red figure lunged through it, stopping forcefully enough that his blue cape billowed around him in a wind of his own creation.

"I HAVE…" it might have looked more impressive if his pose wasn't so ridiculous, "…COME THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" the Man, the Legend, the Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace and running contender for World's Largest Ham. He took the momentary silence as a sign of his audience being struck speechless and gave a booming laugh as he crossed to the desk with an exaggerated stride, "HAHA! Remember students: a flashy, dramatic entrance is a great way to make everyone feel like a situation is going to be All Might!"

Dad jokes at no extra cost. Get yours today.

Izuku loved the guy though. He really did.

Not sure why he was wearing his Silver Age costume though.

"Basic Hero Training! The class that will put you through all sorts of special training for the sole purpose of molding you into Heroes! Also it gives a ton of credits." All Might assumed some sort of very uncomfortable-looking pose in front of his desk with his back facing the students, before suddenly whirling around and holding out a card that said "Battle" on it, "No time to dally! Today's activity is this! Battle Training!"

Needless to say, this got the class' attention. The atmosphere of anticipation and excitement was palpable.

"But in order to do battle in true Heroic style…you'll need these!" as if on cue, four hidden compartments slid out of the walls of the classroom, each containing five boxes labled one thru twenty, corresponding to their assigned seating, "In accordance with the Quirk Registry and Equipment Request Forms you filled out before being admitted, we have your Hero Costumes!"

As one, the entire class shot to their feet and made various noises to the extent of "hell yes gimme gimme gimme." All Might's ever-present grin seemed to grow even wider as he took in his enthusiastic young charges.

"Everyone get changed now and come out to Ground Beta when you're all suited up!"

"YES SENSEI!" The reply was simultaneous and unanimous. It warmed his heart.

"Looking good is very important, ladies and gentlemen! Look alive now, because from today on you're all Heroes!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku wanted to take the time to properly examine and appreciate his costume, but he had to hurry and change, so he gave each part a quick once-over before putting it on. He had been as detailed as possible in his request to the Support Department and had included one of his sketches as a reference. He could honestly say he was pleased with the results.

At the base of everything was a dark green full-body jumpsuit with just enough give to not be skintight. It was decorated on the sides by thick, black stripes and had an oddly-shaped hood attached to the top. Simple black elbow pads were next; functional and durable. Izuku was slightly surprised when instead of the matching basic kneepads he had requested, he was given longer versions that covered his legs from his shins to the base of his thighs. He still seemed to have full range of motion, and more protection was probably better, so he took the change happily. A red belt with two pouches on each side went around his waist and his lighter went into one of the pouches.

The next part was a familiarity thing with him: the same red boots he always wore. At least, they _looked_ like the same ones. Truthfully, he had specifically requested these to be made and they had been given the same treatment as everything else. Around his neck went a respirator that was composed of a tightly-woven black mesh that was slightly translucent up close. It was a solid, practical piece of equipment that could also serve as a mask for his entire lower face. It also had a row of cartoonishly-exaggerated white teeth painted all along the bottom half of it, from jaw to jaw. The gloves were last. Big, beige-tinted things that went to his elbows before terminating in sections with dark-blue decorative stripes.

Then the hood came up, and the image was complete. The hood was actually a mask that covered Izuku's entire head except for his eyes, nose and mouth. The odd shape came from two protrusions coming from the upper part of the forehead above the eyeholes. With these and the design on the respirator, Izuku had let his inner fanboy out just a little. Besides, they made him feel brave and it only seemed right to pay homage to the man who had made all of this possible.

Now, while his costume did provide some physical protection, that wasn't the main point of it. Izuku didn't have time to test this out properly, but he had requested that his costume be as heat resistant as possible. If they had done a good enough job, then it should be able to reduce the severity of the burns he received when using One For All. He wasn't naïve enough to think that they would be eliminated entirely; that wasn't how heat transference worked. With luck and a bit of control though, maybe he could get off without second or third degree burns.

As with the previous day, Class 1-A left as a group. With everyone in their Hero costumes, Izuku couldn't help but stare. He also took it as an opportunity to try and remember the names that had been given to him yesterday.

Ashido stood out like a sore thumb on a regular day due to her pink skin, big hair and horns, but today she was something else. She was wearing a skintight bodysuit that stopped partway up her chest, leaving a good amount of cleavage. The cleavage was nice and all, but what caught he eye was the camo pattern on her bodysuit. Instead of being a mixture of brown and green, or perhaps greys and off-blues, this was purple and turquoise. The tones actually complimented her skin rather nicely. On top of the bodysuit she was wearing a short tan jacket with white fur on the collar, and purple boots with tan trim, soles and toes. The ensemble was topped off with a white mask that covered her upper face, contrasting sharply with her yellow-on-black eyes.

Her arms and shoulders were notably bare, likely to facilitate the use of her acid. Izuku had only seen her secrete it from her feet the day before, but it stood to reason she could also use her hands. All-in-all she certainly demanded attention with her costume, which fit what Izuku had seen of her personality so far.

Aoyama caught his eye second. His prince-like appearance was taken to its logical extreme as he was decked-out in honest-to-god plate armor. He wore a breastplate that flared out at the hips and also protected his neck, greaves, pauldrons and gauntlets. On his hands, thighs and upper arms, where there was no armor, one could see the black bodysuit that he wore underneath. The armor had golden trim that matched his hair and Izuku could see that, in addition to the thick belt he had seen Aoyama use to fire his laser, he also had similar-looking lenses on his knees and shoulders. The two most eye-catching features of this costume were by far the glittering purple cape and red, wing-shaped visor covering his eyes.

Aoyama must have seen him looking because he winked and gave his cape a playful flick, causing it to billow slightly and twinkle in the afternoon sun.

The next thing to catch Izuku's eye was a disembodied pair of gloves and shoes that seemed to be moving through the air of their own accord, mimicking a walk cycle. It took him a couple of seconds to remember that Hagakure was invisible and this made perfect sense given that. Obviously she would want to take full advantage of that with her costume. He wondered what type of material the rest of it was made of. She couldn't be walking around naked, right?

…Right?

There was a tall, broad, armored figure with what looked like engines on his shins. Izuku couldn't make out the face at all, but the perfect posture and radiators coming out of the calves told him it was probably Iida. If Aoyama was armored like a knight, Iida was armored like a medieval robot warrior. The whole effect was honestly rather imposing given that the other boy already stood nearly six feet tall.

Izuku wondered if he was still wearing his glasses underneath all that. That wouldn't make sense, would it?

Ah, there was Kacchan. He had two massive gauntlets that were shaped like hand grenades with oversized pins that extended outwards and were nearly as long as his arms. Fitting. The rest of his costume wasn't as striking but was clearly meant to give off an intimidating vibe. Black was the predominant color, with bits of green and orange here and there. Notable were the orange "X" that crossed his chest and the orange and green belt that had spherical grenades attached to it. He also had a metallic neck protector, and metal kneepads that looked like they could do some serious damage, especially given Kacchan's acrobatic combat style. The orange-trimmed black cat mask flared out at the back of his head, making it look like he had explosions coming out of his hair. It had the added effect of drawing attention to his face, which was probably the last thing any prospective opponent needed to be paying attention to when he was trying to blow them up.

All Izuku could really say was that the costume suited his explosive companion.

Izuku next saw a small purple and yellow blob in his peripheral vision and found that this was actually the boy that had come in last in yesterday's Quirk Assessment: Mineta. The boy's costume was equal parts simplistic and bizarre. He had over-sized yellow gloves and boots, a yellow muffler cape, a purple bodysuit that left only his nose and mouth uncovered, and…was that a diaper? It had purple studs along the waist, so maybe it served some kind of purpose, but it still looked like this three-and-a-half-foot tall kid was wearing a diaper.

Moving on.

The boy with the black lightning bolt streak in his hair…Kaminari. His costume was actually pretty cool-looking. He wore an open black collared jacket with white stripes that ended in lightning bolts, matching pants, and a white T-shirt underneath. He also wore a headset with an antenna sticking up on his right ear. If Izuku remembered correctly, his Quirk involved electricity. He hadn't seen it in action, since it wasn't very helpful in the Quirk Assessment.

Still, maybe the guy wasn't just blowing smoke when he said he was cool. His simple, striking monochromatic color scheme was quite nice. Verdict was still out on his alleged skill with the ladies though.

Oh, there was the frog girl, Asui. Her costume made her look more frog-like than ever. She sported a skintight green suit that had black and yellow stripes mimicking the markings on a frog's skin. Her boots even had green, froglike toes on them. White gloves over her large hands and a pair of large goggles on her forehead that looked rather like the eyes of a frog completed the image.

In spite of her hunched posture and froglike attributes, Izuku still thought she looked rather cute with her long hair and large eyes. She would probably be popular with children, he thought.

A toothy grin and canister-shaped elbows heralded the arrival of Sero. He had a short-sleeved black bodysuit that revealed his surprisingly toned physique for one so lean. There was a large white design that wrapped around his abdomen and he wore orange-trimmed white boots. He also had orange-colored shoulder guards and orange trim on his sleeves.

He was carrying what looked like a modified motorcycle helmet under his arm that had a nasty-looking set of sharp spikes jutting upward from the jaw. It reminded Izuku quite a bit of the teeth on a roll of tape. Fitting, considering that Sero's Quirk _was_ Tape. All-in-all, slick design that looked very functional. Izuku could appreciate that.

Kirishima's red hair was always eye-catching, but his costume took that and cranked it up to eleven. He wore a slightly demonic-looking metallic mask that traced his jaw and the outline of his face, covering the bridge of his nose but leaving his mouth and eyes uncovered. Around each shoulder was a red, gear-shaped pad and that was all for his upper body. His arms and torso were bare, revealing a chiseled physique which, appropriately enough given his Quirk, looked rock-hard. He had a belt at his waist adorned with a large letter "R" in a brighter red than the rest of the costume and coming off of the belt was a man-skirt with a torn pattern, open in the front. Underneath this was a pair of baggy, black pants and rugged-looking brown boots.

Next was the girl who had gotten the top score in the Quirk Assessment, Yaoyor- _ohmygod_. He had known that the tall girl had a curvaceous figure, but her costume left absolutely nothing to the imagination. A red garment that resembled a cross between a leotard and a jacket with white trim and a high collar where someone had seemingly forgotten to fill in the center third of the fabric, leaving everything from her navel up to her collarbone exposed. It kept her modest, thanks to the yellow belt across her upper chest holding it closed, but just barely. Two larger yellow belts put together formed a utility belt around her hips. There was actually a small shelf of sorts attached to the belt by her rear that had what appeared to be an encyclopedia on it.

The outfit seemed designed to leave as much skin exposed as humanly possible and while Izuku knew this was to facilitate use of her Quirk, it didn't negate the fact that he was a hormonal fifteen year-old and being around her would take some getting used to.

Uraraka. He just had to find Uraraka. Surely whatever she had would reflect her personality and be cute and wholesome and-

Izuku was suddenly _very_ glad that his costume wasn't completely skintight.

The only exposed skin was on her hands, shoulders, and face, but there didn't _need_ to be more. Her costume was a bodysuit that looked like a second skin, the primary colors being blue-black and a white ever-so-slightly tinted with pink. Her sleeves were detached, starting just below her shoulders, and had a darker pink trim. There was a strange, thin device of this same pink around her neck. A futuristic vibe was added to the costume by the large, robot-like, knee-high pink-white boots with pink soles and enough heel that she stood an inch or two taller than normal, a belt with the same color scheme and round devices on her wrists that had darker pink handle-like things coming off of the back. Like Sero, she was carrying a helmet under one arm that had a a see-through visor in the front and had the same color scheme as the rest of her accessories.

With the layered nature of the school uniforms, what with the shirt, jacket and skirt, combined with her innocent personality, Izuku had never suspected that Uraraka would have such a nice body. She wasn't ridiculously curvaceous like Yaoyorozu or anything but again, she didn't need to be. He found himself comparing her figure to his own: fit and functional, with the exceptions being her…femininity.

He really needed to stop thinking like this.

"Oh wow, Deku-kun! I like your costume! Those bunny ears are so cute!"

And now she was bouncing over to him. It almost seemed like the soles of her boots were spring-loaded. Actually, given her Quirk, that would make a lot of sense. It probably helped her with both jumping and landing.

…He kind of wished she would stop doing it though because he really needed to focus right now. She must have noticed him staring because she gave a nervous smile.

"I wish I had been a bit more specific on my request form; all I asked for was stuff to stimulate my pressure points to help out with nausea. The rest of it I left up to them and…it's a bit tighter than I'd have wanted. Kind of embarrassing."

Izuku searched for something encouraging to say, but was spared the need as they arrived at a very familiar-looking cityscape, prompting All Might to address them.

"Well then, shall we begin, my wards? It's time for Battle Training!" he took in the students arrayed in front of him for a moment before giving a thumbs-up, "Looks like everyone's here and looking good! Excellent!" his eyes passed over Izuku and froze for a moment. He quickly turned to the side and covered his mouth.

"Sensei!" the guy in the armor was indeed Iida, "This appears to be the same field used for the entrance exam. Will we be performing cityscape maneuvers again?" All Might shook his head.

"Later perhaps, but not today! Today you will be moving on to step two: Indoor Anti-Personnel Battle Training!" seeing that his students were looking for something more, he continued, "It is true that battles against Villains are most commonly seen outdoors but, statistically, the most heinous Villains are more likely to appear indoors. In today's modern world with worldwide computer networks, black market deals, and Villains driven into seclusion by our Hero-filled society, the cleverest Villains out there will tend to lurk indoors!" the students seemed to accept this, so All Might decided it was time to get to the meat of the matter, "You will all be split up into Villain teams and Hero teams and you will face off in two-on-two indoor battles!"

"Ribbit." Tsuyu raised a hand, "So does that mean we're not doing basic training?" All Might pumped a clenched fist in front of himself for emphasis.

"Practical experience will teach you the basics as a matter of course! Each of you is unique, so find out what works and doesn't work for yourselves. I'll be here to guide you, of course, but at its core Basic Training is all about finding what works best for _you_. The main difference between here and the entrance exam though is you won't be fighting disposable robots; you'll be facing off against living, breathing, thinking opponents!"

Immediately he was inundated with questions.

"What determines victory?"

"Can I just blow everyone up?"

"Are you threatening to expel someone like Aizawa-sensei did?"

"How shall we proceed to divide ourselves up into teams?"

"Isn't my cape simply fabulous?"

"Can we get all the girls together for a photo shoot?" *smack* "Ow!" All Might cocked an eyebrow at this last remark, but Asui seemed to be punishing Mineta well enough on her own, having slapped him across the face with her long tongue without even having to move a muscle.

"One at a time, please. My Quirk isn't super-hearing you know!" he took a moment to process the barrage of inquiries before pointing at each student who had asked something in turn, skipping Mineta, "We'll get to that, no, good _heavens_ no, we'll get to that, it is indeed." he clapped his large hands together, took out a small piece of paper, and consulted it while he spoke, "Here's the deal for this exercise: the Villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in their hideout. It is the Heroes' job to go in and take care of that! The Heroes will have a limited amount of time to either capture the villains or secure the weapon. The Villains must either capture the heroes or protect the weapon until time is up. As for who you'll be teaming up with…" he produced a box with a hole in the top seemingly from nowhere, "…we'll draw lots!"

This confused the class, Iida in particular.

"Is that really the best way?!" Izuku understood the point through. Maybe this was what Iida had meant before about understanding the true nature of things?

"Actually, it makes sense. Pros often have to team up with Heroes from other agencies on the spot during emergencies. There's no guarantee you'll be familiar with who you end up having to work with, so it's important to be able to work those kinds of things out on-the-fly."

"Ah! I see! I apologize for getting ahead of myself. My mistake, Sensei, Midoriya-san."

"No worries, Iida my boy! Let's get to it! Everybody line up by seating order and draw lots!"

First up was Aoyama, who drew a sphere that had a big black "J" on it. Ashido drew a "B," Asui drew a "D," Iida drew an "H," Uraraka drew an "E," the boy with the tail, Ojiro, was wearing a simple martial arts gi with a tuft of light yellow fur that matched the color of his hair and the tuft on his tail as his costume. He drew another "H," resulting in the first team. He waved to Iida, who nodded respectfully. The drawing continued with Kaminari, who drew the first "I," Kirishima drew a "G." Next was a quiet boy who had a large build and looked like he had a flesh-colored rock for a head, who it turned out was named Koda. He drew a "D," which meant he was teamed up with Asui. He seemed relieved at this and walked silently over to her, a nervous smile on his craggy lips.

The next in line was Sato, the sugar-eating muscleman with big lips. He looked the part of strongman too in his skintight yellow jumpsuit with white boots, gloves, and belt. He drew a "J," which meant he was teamed up with Aoyama. He looked like he wasn't sure what to think as he walked over to his partner, who seemed to be trying to gauge the direction of the wind so he could make his cape billow dramatically. The towering, mask-wearing, six-armed Shoji was next. His costume was a simple, not-too-tight sleeveless blue and purple jumpsuit with purple mask, boots, and belt. He didn't need anything extra to look intimidating. He drew the first "F."

The girl who had made music puns a few times was next. Her name was Jiro and her Quirk seemed to be a pair of flesh-colored three-point-five-millimeter audio jacks that dangled from her earlobes. From what Izuku could tell, they were prehensile, extendable, and rather strong. Her costume was simple and reminded him a little bit of Kaminari's. She too wore a black jacket with matching pants and an undershirt, only her shirt was peach-colored and had some intentional-looking tears in it, giving it a very Punk feel. Her boots looked unusual, almost as if they had speakers built into them along the front. Completing her ensemble were a pair of white fingerless gloves, a simple black choker, and two small, red, triangular facial markings beneath her eyes. She drew the first "C." Sero was up next, having donned his helmet by this time, and drew the second "I," making him Kaminari's partner. The self-proclaimed cool kid gave him a thumbs-up and a high-five as he made his way over.

The next student was the unusual-looking Tokoyami. His body appeared normal enough except that he had a bird-shaped head with black feathers, a slightly curved beak, and piercing red eyes. He was actually one of the shorter boys in the class, standing at five-two as opposed to Izuku's five-five. His costume was, at first glance, rather nondescript as it consisted of a dark cloak that covered his entire body from the neck down, leaving only his booted feet visible. He drew a "G," making him Kirishima's partner. Kirishima whooped from the sidelines and waved him over, offering him a fist-bump. When it was not returned, he settled for clapping the shorter boy on the back instead, not seeming to mind that he was left hanging.

Next was a boy with dual-tone white and red hair that was split down the middle, mismatched eyes and a nasty-looking burn scar over his blue left eye. His name was Todoroki and his costume consisted of a white collared shirt with matching pants and boots and the entire left side of his body covered in ice. Izuku was puzzled by this, as from what he understood Todoroki's Quirk was the ability to create ice from his right side and fire from his left, but he didn't really have the time to ask him about that right now. He drew a "B," making him Ashido's partner. She smiled and waved at him, but he did not seem to pay her any attention.

The invisible Hagakure was next, and it was a novel experience to watch a floating glove disappear into a box and reappear holding a ball that had a "C" on it, making her Jiro's partner. She skipped over to the other girl and started chatting animatedly, though since only her hands and feet could be tracked, it was difficult to figure out exactly what she was doing.

Then it was Kacchan's turn. Izuku did a quick count in his head and realized that nobody had drawn any "A" balls yet. There was a chance that he and Kacchan would get paired up, which would be cool, he supposed.

 _The only options left are the two A's, an E, or an F. If I'm being honest with myself though…_

Kacchan drew the "F," meaning he was paired with Shoji.

… _I want to show him what I can do without him right now._

Izuku approached the box in front of All Might and stuck his hand in. He felt the three balls inside and took a moment to decide which one to grab. He had a two-in-three chance of getting an "A," which would pair him with either Mineta or Yaoyorozu, and a one-in-three chance of getting the other "E," which would pair him with Uraraka. He sighed and withdrew his hand, already knowing what the result was going to be.

"Alright! We're partners, Deku-kun! Let's do this!" She was happy. Izuku was happy too, to be honest, but part of him felt for Yaoyorozu. Mineta had been eyeing her up the whole time, more so than the other males of the class and now she was stuck with him as a partner. Oh well, maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought? Maybe Mineta had just been joking earlier and there was nothing wrong with just looking, right? Izuku had done a bit of that himself, albeit unintentionally. They were teenagers. Surely that was normal?

"Alright, now that everyone has their teams, letters A, C, E, G, and I are Heroes, and their respective Villains are B, D, F, H, and J. Ordinarily I'd have had you all draw randomly again, but we spent too much time talking beforehand. We have a schedule to keep, after all! There will be a total of five matches. The Villain team will enter the building first, and they will have five minutes to arrange themselves however they see fit. After that, the Hero team will enter, and the timer will begin."

Izuku hurriedly went through the matchups in his head:

Match 1: Mineta and Yaoyorozu (Heroes) vs. Ashido and Todoroki (Villains)

Match 2: Jiro and Hagakure (Heroes) vs. Asui and Koda (Villains)

Match 3: Uraraka and Midoriya (Heroes) vs. Bakugo and Shoji (Villains)

Match 4: Tokoyami and Kirishima (Heroes) vs. Iida and Ojiro (Villains)

Match 5: Sero and Kaminari (Heroes) vs. Aoyama and Sato (Villains)

Well then. He couldn't decide whether he was excited, afraid, nervous, or what, so he went with a little bit of everything.

All Might showed Ashido and Todoroki to the entrance, and gave them some final instructions.

"Ashido. Todoroki. You two need to adopt a Villainous mindset here! This is practical experience, so go all-out. Hold nothing back! Don't worry though; I'll stop you if things go too far. Now, into the building with you! Mineta and Yaoyorozu will wait here for five minutes, and I will announce when they are allowed to enter. After that, you have fifteen minutes. Now, off you go! The rest of the teams can follow me to the observation room in the basement."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The observation room was sizeable, but relatively nondescript apart from the many hologram projectors that lined the walls and ceiling. Each one of these was currently active and displaying a part of the building. The entire place was wired with cameras, ensuring that the audience wouldn't miss a thing. All Might had worked with such facilities before, but he was always impressed by them nevertheless.

 _Todoroki…so you'd be Endeavor's boy then. Such an interesting coincidence that you and I would both start at U.A. in the same year. Perhaps this is what they call fate? Well, one way or the other, I shall show no bias towards any of my students. I shall grade you all fairly and without mercy! Now show me what you can do!_

He had his clipboard at the ready, pen poised over paper. He only needed to observe.

Of course, the students were all jabbering away, discussing the upcoming match. The general consensus seemed to be that the Villains had an unfair advantage, what with having time to prepare and only needing to stall for time, while the Heroes had no idea where the bomb was in the first place. A good observation, however…

"Of course the Villains have the advantage. That's always how it is, you know. In a story, the antagonist is the one who sets events into motion and the protagonist is the one who reacts. Heroes are licensed to use their Quirks in public, but they only do so when there is a reason. Villains, on the other hand, will do whatever they want, whenever they want, no matter who it may harm. In short: Villains always have the initiative because they always act first. I believe Aizawa told you something similar? The world is full of unfair things, and Heroes are here to correct that unfairness."

He saw the looks on their faces as they drank in his words. He saw their eyes light up and their mouths form firm lines as they understood what he had told them and learned from it.

Being a teacher might not have been his first choice in career, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad. It made him feel really good knowing that he was helping, in more ways then one, to produce the next generation of Heroes that would carry on when his generation was no more.

…And his time in particular was growing shorter by the day.

"Right then…" he said to himself as the timer he had set for five minutes went off. He pressed a button to activate the building-wide intercom and bellowed into it, "Begin!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Mina Ashido was excited. This was her first practical exercise at U.A. _and_ she got to pretend to be a Villain! She was following All Might's advice and getting into it as much as possible, currently standing at the entrance to the room on the third floor where she and Todoroki had decided to hide the bomb, rubbing her hands together and chuckling to herself. When the go-sign was given by All Might, she broke out into full on maniacal cackling.

"Hehehee~ That's right, come on Heroes! I'll melt you down to your bones and even if you stop me, my bomb will _still_ take down this whole damned city! Muahahaha!" she turned to Todoroki, who was standing in front of the bomb with his arms crossed, and gave him a crooked smile and a wink, "Isn't that right, my lovely henchman?"

"Whatever." This prompted Ashido to break character for a moment.

"Dude, come _on_. It's part of the assignment so you may as well get into it! Besides, it's really fun! Where else would we get the chance to be Villains?" He narrowed his eyes at her and she swore the temperature of the room dropped by about three degrees.

"I'm not here to play, I'm not here to have fun, and I am _not_ here to be a Villain. If I so much as see them, I will freeze them solid but beyond that I'm fine with just standing here for fifteen minutes. You do what you want; just leave me out of it." Mina made a pouty face at him before the combination of liquid sugar and caffeine that apparently made up her blood perked her right back up again.

"Well fine then, Ice King. If you're so confident that we'll win no matter what anyway, then I'm gonna go have some fun with the intruders. Ciao~" and with that, she walked out into the hall.

The building was pretty nondescript on the inside, with all of the walls, floors and ceilings being reinforced with steel plates. No doubt it would take a really big hit to take one out. She could probably burn a hole through one with her acid if she wanted to though; she just needed to kick it up a few notches. She would have to be careful to only use her nonlethal acid against a living target, but even that stuff could still burn like nobody's business.

"Let's see…if I was a number-one special-invitation girl destined for back pain in the future and a little…purple…bubble…thing, where would I be?"

"Mineta-san, I'm serious! We need to come up with a plan here!" a raised voice echoed off of the metallic walls, seemingly coming from the floor below.

"Well…guess I'd be there. For a girl who's supposed to be so smart, she really doesn't have a lot of common sense, does she?"

Utilizing her toned physique and lithe figure, Mina moved silently until she was directly above where she guessed the voices were coming from and then knelt and began to secrete a highly corrosive acid from the tips of her fingers, using it to draw a circle on the floor around her. Once the acid had melted a groove into the floor, she flooded it with even more acid.

"Why take the stairs when I can take the-*CRASH*" she had overestimated the thickness of the floor and it abruptly gave way before she was ready for it. Her reflexes were on-point though, and she rolled with the impact, ending up back on her feet and ready for action.

"Ha-HA! You foolish Heroes sealed your fate from the moment you entered my lair! You could have escaped, but now all chances of survival are gone! I shall destroy first you and then your entire city! Kyahahahaha~"

As the dust cleared, she could make out the figure of Yaoyozuro- Yaoroyo- screw it. Her first name was Momo, so she was Yaomomo from now on.

Regardless, she saw her, but she didn't see the Purple Blob.

"Nngh! Get…off! We need to focus!"

Wait, was Yaomomo wearing a backpack earlier? And did her costume always have yellow pieces on the front of it?

"I'm scared! Protect me Yaoyorozu-sama!"

"Oh, don't you _even_. You've been walking behind me this whole time and don't think I don't know where you've been looking!"

"I'll have you know that's a natural consequence of being short."

"You are so full of-" Mina cleared her throat.

"*Ahem* Not interrupting anything am I? We're supposed to be fighting here."

"Ashido-san," Yaomomo took a step forward and Mina saw that her inability to extricate Mineta was due to the fact that he had used his Quirk to stick himself to her back and he was currently taking full advantage of that situation, "I would be more than happy to fight you, but as you can see, we are having some technical difficulties here."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Everything on my end is _amazing_ and _soft_ and _squishy_ and-"

Mina had heard enough. She marched right over to Yaomomo and began trying to pull Mineta off of her. Little bastard was _really_ stuck on there though.

"Nngh! Ashido-san, careful, you'll tear my costume off like that!"

"No! Harder, Ashido-san! We can do this if we work together! Plus Ultra!" Mineta had lost any and all semblance of reason at this point. Mina was just about to see if those sticky, purple balls of his resisted acid when she suddenly found herself unable to move and in desperate need of something to warm her up.

"What. The hell. Are you all doing?" Apparently Todoroki had gotten tired of waiting and had come to see what all the racket was about. He had then decided to make good on his threat of freezing the Heroes solid if he saw them. That still begged the question though…

"Ice King! Why did you freeze me too?!" He ignored this.

" _I'm_ asking the questions here."

Yaomomo, Ashido, and Mineta proceeded to explain the situation to him. Mineta's version was understandably much different, but his narrowed gaze showed that Todoroki clearly wasn't buying it. He slid down through the hole in the ceiling on a ramp of ice that he created out of thin air and then proceeded to touch the frozen Mina with his left hand. The ice immediately began to melt and she was soon free.

"Due to the Heroes being unable to fight back, the Villain team is victorious!" All Might's voice rang out through the intercom.

Todoroki set about thawing Yaomomo, stopping the thaw before it reached Mineta. As it turned out, freezing those sticky blobs solid rendered them not as sticky. Working together, they managed to get the grape-sicle off of the poor girl and Todoroki tossed him to one side. He was getting ready to walk away and leave him there, but the intercom came to life again.

"Todoroki, my boy, please thaw Mineta as well."

"Do I have to?"

"I cannot hear you because these cameras are video-only, but I can guess what you said, and yes, you have to." the half-and-half student rolled his eyes and did as he was told. Mineta didn't know when to shut up apparently.

"Todoroki, you bastard, how can you call yourself a man?" a quick hand over his mouth and Mineta was attempting to talk through a gag made of ice.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Well, that was an unmitigated disaster." Iida summed up what they had just witnessed rather nicely, in All Might's opinion.

"I know, right? Talk about a time and a place." Kaminari seemed to agree, though for different reasons.

"What planet do you live on where you think that's _ever_ okay? I've got half a mind to go all Death Metal on his ass!" Jiro, on the other hand, was full of righteous indignation. Well-earned, perhaps, but he had a responsibility as a teacher to crack down on that kind of talk.

"Jiro, my girl, I am going to have to ask you not to do that. Mineta's punishment is for the teachers to decide. He will at the very least get detention."

"Detention?!" she was having none of it, "He stuck himself to her back and _he groped her_! You have that _on camera_!"

"It is a little-known fact about Mineta's costume that only the yellow portions are treated to resist his Quirk. He was stuck to Yaoyorozu by his torso and could not realistically have freed himself without leaving both himself and his partner open to attack from Ashido. That is one logical explanation that could be drawn from that video footage, especially since it was obscured by dust at the time. We did see the initial reaction to that section of ceiling falling down, and Mineta's knee-jerk reaction was to attach himself to Yaoyorozu because she is not as challenged in the legs department as he is. She did indeed manage to barely escape the collapse, where he certainly could not have."

Jiro's expression showed that she was about to reply, but All Might cut her off.

"Jiro, I understand how you feel. Truly, I do, but we cannot automatically assume the worst. Given that this is a first offense and we cannot prove intent, the kind of punishment that I believe you are seeking would be unwarranted." All Might put a hand on her shoulder and his expression hardened, "You can rest assured, however, that if this sort of thing happens again the consequences will be far more…decisive. I will personally make sure that Mineta understands this."

Jiro stared at All Might for a few moments before straightening up and bowing to him.

"I understand, All Might-Sensei. Thank you for that, and I apologize for my outburst." All Might patted her on the head with one of his large hands.

"There is nothing to forgive, Jiro, my girl. Your heart was in the right place and your anger was justified. Those are important qualities for a Hero."

At this point, teams A and B entered the observation room.

"Mineta, my boy, I would like a word with you after this lesson concludes." as his mouth was still frozen shut, Mineta could only widen his eyes and nod.

"Now then, a quick overview of your performance before the next match. Ordinarily I would start by stating who I consider to be the MVP in the contest, but in this instance, I find myself debating which of you it would be, so we will save that for last." he made an inviting gesture to the class at large, "Who can tell me what individual members did well, and not so well? Apart from…the obvious."

The students thought amongst themselves before Iida raised a hand.

"Two things in particular stand out to me: First, Yaoyorozu-san was attempting to come up with a plan of action with her partner, even if this was not well-received. Second, Ashido-san seemed to fully embrace the exercise more so than anyone else. If her body language was anything to go by, she was making every effort to put herself in the shoes of a Villain."

"I can confirm that." Yaoyorozu chimed in, "She was laughing and making speeches and everything. That ambush of hers was a good idea too; it carried minimal risk of critically damaging the structure." Ashido beamed at her, but then got a guilty look on her face.

"After something so nice, I feel kinda bad saying this, Yaomomo, but the only reason I was able to pull that off was because you were being so noisy. If you had been quieter, I would have had to find you the old-fashioned way." Yaoyorozu looked chagrined at this.

"I got something." Kirishima was next, "Todoroki, why did you freeze Ashido too when she was supposed to be on your side?" The son of Endeavor sighed before responding.

"She was right on top of them and my Quirk isn't so precise that I could have excluded her from the area of effect while still getting the desired results. Plus, I had the ability to free her before she suffered frostbite. I needed to lock down the situation and both of my targets were in the line of fire. I made a judgement call and I'd do it again."

"If it matters, I don't really blame him for it." Ashido offered, "I kinda broke character when I went to help Yaomomo even though she was supposed to be my enemy. That would have been a great opportunity to get a few good shots in, but I didn't take it. Ice King was just focused on the mission and I don't think we should fault him for that…even if he _could_ have been more of a team player."

All Might considered what his students had said. He agreed with every point, though it did always chafe a bit when someone attacked a teammate, even if they were Villains. But, he had promised to remain unbiased and given the case that had been presented to him, he only had one option.

"Very well then. I declare Todoroki to be the MVP of match one! He kept his mission in mind at all times and was eventually the one who accomplished it, using the groundwork that was laid by his teammate to do so. Damage was kept to a minimum and his partner emerged unscathed in the end. You can't really argue with results like those."

What All Might _didn't_ say was that he was a little disappointed that nobody had bothered to use the microtransceivers he had given them. That was sound that the room _did_ pick up and besides, they were really, really cool. Like spy gadgets. Well, he needed to move on. He had his time limit to worry about and all.

"Alright then, without further ado, let's get to match two!"

* * *

 **So I mentioned before that the Battle Trial might be broken up into two chapters? That's happening. By the time I even got to them the lead-up was long enough to be a chapter in its own right but I didn't want to just leave you guys hanging either, so I included the first match.**

 **With the exception of Deku and Uraraka being a team, and the fact that Izuku was always going to fight Bakugo, everything, and I do mean _everything_ , was randomized for these matchups. It is pure goddamn coincidence that the first two dice I rolled were 19 and 20, which corresponds to Yaoyorozu and the Grapist, but damned if it didn't just turn into a glorious shitstorm. Every other match looks to be legitimately interesting except for this one, which in my notes amounted to: Mineta suffers from overload, Ashido and Yaoyorozu join forces against him, Todoroki gets tired of their shit and freezes everyone. Scene.**

 **I did previously reveal that Katsuki is paired with Shoji, but everything else I've forced myself to keep quiet about until now.**

 **I'm honestly super-interested to see how you all think the other four matches will go. Feel free to speculate away in the Reviews section. I have outlines for each fight already, but if I see something that I like enough, I might change to accommodate it. You guys have shown me already that I've got a smart audience, so have at it! If nothing else it'll be super entertaining to see what everyone thinks.**

 **Deku's costume is mostly based on Costume Beta, but he uses the same respirator as with Alpha, and the gloves heavily resemble those from Gamma, though they do not include arm supports. My reasoning for why Inko didn't make him a costume this time is because he knew he would need it to be specially constructed to resist heat, and that's not something that just anyone can do. Also, she already bought him the lighter and he carries that with him _everywhere_ now, so there's always that.**

 **Next time is no frills, no bullshit. We're getting straight into the second match and we _will_ see all four of the remaining matches including the much-anticipated Deku vs Kacchan fight.**

 **Oh, also, that cover was drawn by me. We're not to the point that I'm getting fanart of this XD.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10: I Am Here

**Well, we have our first ten-thousand word chapter. Not sure what else to say except "damn." XD**

 **Review time:**

 **Colinpop5: Thank you! I'm very happy to hear that and hope you continue to do so.**

 **Ezylryb: Thank you! I will do my best. Hopefully this lives up to your expectations.**

 **dspendragon125: Thank you! It makes me happy to hear that.**

 **NPGamer11: Ever since I first saw someone call him that, it has been my head-canon Hero Name for him. I really love it, especially since it reminds me of that Whitest Kids You Know YouTube video.**

 **RandomDude: No worries man, your reviews have always been constructive and I appreciate the honesty and you don't need to worry about discouraging me. I was an Art major so having my work torn apart was par for the course XD**

 **I fully intend for any and all ships to be at least somewhat plot-relevant, _especially_ the main one. I am also glad to know that I succeeded in what I set out to do with Ochako, which was expanding on her character to give her more depth. Rest assured I am far from done with her.**

 **I always felt that Katsuki is a lot more canny then people give him credit for. He's crazy smart canonically, and I think that this version of him would be even better at reading people. The comparison to Eraserhead is interesting.**

 **The part with the costumes did go on for a bit, but it made for a decent writing exercise and it gave me a chance to make extra sure that Izuku finally knew everyone's names and to get his reactions down to them.**

 **No worries about the different nicknames. Hell, I have at least two or three different ways of referring to each character myself. Just look at Izuku/Midoriya/Deku as an example of that.**

 **I do intend to do more with Aoyama than in canon where he's just kind of a side character. He's just fun to write for me.**

 **I feel like Izuku would be defensive of any of his friends if they were getting a grilling or if he thought they were getting stressed out, it just so happens that he's had more occasions to be defensive of Ochako, since Katsuki keeps giving her crap, if that makes sense.**

 **I'm honestly still torn on whether I'll even _have_ a traitor. There's multiple different ways I could work out those things that are attributed to the traitor.**

 **ScarletCatnip: Those were my thoughts on it. It also makes this accessible to people who might not be as familiar with how everyone looks (I know I had to check a few times to make sure I got everything right. I totally forgot that Todoroki's initial costume was white, for example).**

 **I had so much fun last chapter with getting into the spirit of the exercise that there is _much_ more of that here. It really highlights for me that they _are_ still kids, and it feels right to have them get into it a little bit.**

 **Mineta's exit will happen as a result of *SPOILERS.* It is kind of funny now that you point out the contrast between Todoroki and Bakugo, especially compared to canon.**

 **That would be pretty funny. Maybe I'll do something like that.**

 **Hektols: I know right? Poor Momo.**

 **Hopefully this chapter does those fights justice. About three-quarters of it is devoted to match three XD**

 **wildtrance: I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoy these!**

 **I haven't decided entirely how Endeavor's flames will taste yet.**

 **origamishishou: I have not read that. I'm guessing it involves Deku turning Mineta's grapes into raisins?**

 **Amusing visual, but for sure out of character for him.**

 **The 0bservanc3: Thank you. Statements like this fuel me.**

 **I do enjoy writing from Katsuki's POV. Actually...I've yet to find someone who's POV I _haven't_ enjoyed writing. If they don't interest me I just...don't write their POV XD.**

 **I'm glad that the cafeteria scene had that kind of impact. Your assessment is correct.**

 **Ashido's costume legit looks like a psychedelic camouflage...thing. That's totally canon. I got all my costume descriptions from the images hosted by the wiki. I did have fun writing his reactions to the costumes, particularly those three you pointed out. Canon Izuku would for sure have been more flustered. Hell, he could barely _look_ at Ochako in canon at first when he saw her costume.**

 **I agree that the drawing lots section was kind of a mess. I wanted to have it there instead of just jumping to the list to build suspense a bit, but it is a lot to keep track of so I don't think it's just you.**

 **I did roll dice. Took a pair of d20's and rolled for the pairs, re-rolling on duplicates (with the exception of Izuku, Bakugo, and Ochako of course).**

 **Ashido is always fun to work with just because of how...herself...she is. The first part of this chapter we get more Shoto, so hopefully that answers that.**

 **I couldn't justify kicking him out right at the beginning like that, but it won't be much longer.**

 **Maaaybe :P**

 **These match predictions were super interesting to read, and I ended up/will end up incorporating some of the elements of them into the remaining matches (we only get to two of them this chapter). So thank you for those!**

 **I hope you enjoy this!**

 **x-YaoiWolf-x: You are technically correct. The best kind of correct. I am promoting you from rank 36 to rank 35. (Props if you get that reference).**

 **Now, without further ado, on with the Battle Trial and the match that everyone has been looking forward to since the beginning!**

Chapter Ten: I Am Here

"Without further ado, let's get to the second match! We shall change locations and then it will be the Hero Team of Jiro and Hagakure versus the Villain Team of Asui and Koda!" All Might's voice boomed out as boisterously as always as he headed for the stairs that led to the exit.

Shoto Todoroki was honestly bored. He had hoped to be pitted against someone that could challenge him at least a little for the Battle Trial, but fate had screwed him over as usual. That match was nothing short of a joke.

That Bakugo, for example. He could probably put up a halfway decent fight until Shoto decided to just freeze him solid. Shoji or Sato could probably break through his ice if they had to and Iida could be challenging to catch in the first place. Hell, even Kirishima would be able to take a beating without keeling over right away.

Then there was Midoriya, the boy Endeavor had asked him to keep tabs on. He hadn't shown anything all that impressive yet in terms of his Quirk. If it hadn't been for the recordings that his father had told him about, he wouldn't have thought twice about him.

One thing he _had_ noticed, however, was the other boy's intelligence and personality. He had obviously studied very hard to get where he was today and he seemed to be a genuinely nice person. If nothing else he played a good foil to Bakugo, who seemed to be an old friend of his, exactly as Endeavor had guessed (damn it).

In fact, he had already found himself the part of a rather high-profile group that consisted of a full half of the top ten scorers from the entrance exam and while Bakugo was undoubtedly the leader, Midoriya seemed to have a good amount of influence himself. Call him a skeptic, but Shoto had a hard time believing that this was the product of mere coincidence. Those types of things just didn't happen.

"Hey, Modoriya?" he may as well try and figure him out a bit more though. Just to kill time.

"Ah, Todoroki-san. What is it?"

"I was just wondering what your take on this next match was. None of them have a straight-forward, simple Quirk so it's hard for me to predict."

There. That sounded alright, didn't it? That was the kind of thing anyone else might have said, wasn't it?

From the way the other boy's eyes lit up underneath his mask, apparently it was _exactly_ the right thing to say.

"I know! Isn't it exciting?! Just think about all of the possibilities!" Shoto had to resist the urge to take a step back as Midoriya started gushing like the fanboy he was, "Group battles are always so much more exciting than one-on-one fights, at least in my opinion. It's the kind of situation where Quirk synergy really comes into play, you know? If two or more Quirks end up being compatible with each other, they can be way more powerful than they would be on their own."

Midoriya took a moment to compose himself so he could properly answer Shoto's question. In that time, Shoto noticed that a fair number of students were paying attention to their conversation, apparently curious as to what the other boy would say.

 _He's built up a reputation for himself after only one day, huh? That's impressive by itself._

"If we're talking about the matchup here based on Quirks alone, you would think that Jiro-san and Hagakure-san would have the advantage. See, Hagakure-san is invisible, so she's tailor-made for stealth and surprise attacks, but that could also make it difficult for her partner to synergize with her. With Jiro-san though, that's not the case. From what I understand, her Quirk gives her enhanced hearing, so she should be able to keep track of Hagakure-san's movements that way. In fact, just based on Quirk compatibility alone, you might say it's one of the best possible team-ups!"

"…Well damn."

"Talk about thorough."

"Midori, are you, like, a tactician or something?" Ashido's question got a chuckle out of Bakugo.

"It's the one thing he's always been better than me at." he clapped a blushing Midoriya on the back, "I'll tell you guys something good, so clean the crap out of your ears and listen up! If Deku says something to you about Quirk tactics, you sure as shit better listen to him! This guy eats, breathes and shits that stuff!"

"In that case, Midoriya my boy," All Might had apparently been listening too, "why don't you finish your analysis? I believe you had more to say, did you not?" Midoriya straightened up and nodded.

"The team of Asui-san and Koda-san looks like they have a disadvantage at first. It's not because their Quirks don't mesh, it's because of the environment. Asui-san's Frog is the type of Quirk that can be useful in any situation, but Koda-san's Anivoice only works if there are animals around and since this is an urban setting, indoors no less, he's going to have a hard time putting it to good use."

"But," here Midoriya held up a finger to emphasize his point, "Koda's problem also brings us to the final point: the environment. This isn't a flat plane where everyone will be on equal footing the whole time. This is a multi-level building with hallways, stairs, rooms and all kinds of different locations. Add to that the fact that the Villain teams have an inherent advantage and it actually becomes a lot more evenly-matched, at least in theory."

"Dude," Kaminari was the first to speak, "I think you just fried my brain. How can you think of all that stuff so quickly?"

"Seriously. It seemed like you were a Power-Technique type but are you secretly an Intelligence type?" Sero was equally impressed.

"I see. Thank you for the input. You have obviously put a lot of thought into this." Shoto couldn't deny that he was impressed. He had thought of a couple of those points himself, of course, but Midoriya had spouted that entire analysis basically on-command.

It honestly made him interested in seeing how he would deal with his match against Bakugo. First, it was time to see how accurate his predictions were for the second match.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Kyoka Jiro was ready to tear something up. She understood what All Might had said about Mineta and she even agreed with it to an extent, but it didn't mean she liked it or that she wasn't still pissed.

Good thing it was her match next. She and Hagakure were killing time at the entrance while the Villain Team was setting up. The invisible girl appeared to be fidgeting from what Kyoka could see of her. She had one of her jacks plugged into the wall of the building, trying to pick up some subtle noises that might give her information and she had managed to figure out that their opponents were on one of the higher floors, though she couldn't determine which one.

"Hey, Jiro-san?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you have a plan?"

"Sure. We Rock this and go home." Kyoka wasn't trying to be curt, but she really wasn't in the mood right now.

"Well, would you like to hear mine?" Hagakure's gloved hands were kneading together like she was nervous. Was Kyoka really giving off such Grunge vibes right now? It wasn't Hagakure's fault that she was mad, and it wasn't fair to her partner to shut her down like that. She had to try to calm down a bit.

"Sorry, I'm just tuned a bit too tightly right now. I'd like to hear your idea." This had the desired effect, as Hagakure clapped her hands and the pitch of her voiced went back to normal.

"It's okay, I totally get it! Anyway, if we can figure out roughly where they are, I can scout ahead without being seen. Maybe I could pull off a surprise attack if I can figure out a way to hide the capture tape? And hey, maybe you can listen in on their plans if we get close enough?"

Kyoka thought about this for a few moments. She couldn't really find any problems with this plan apart from the fact that it was probably exactly what the Villains would expect them to do, but what other options did they have? The Oldies existed for a reason, after all.

"Okay," she nodded to her unseen teammate, "let's demo that. I can't think of anything better anyway. If I really got going I could probably bring down part of the building, but we can't risk damaging the pyrotechnics. Er, the bomb."

Hagakure gave her a thumbs-up and then fingered the microtransceiver that was partially visible floating in the space where her ear must have been.

"These little things are useful, but it could give away my position if I'm not careful…I'm probably gonna have to strip down completely for this if I'm gonna do it right." well, that confirmed that the invisible girl really did strut around in the buff as her Hero Costume. This gave Kyoka an idea though.

"Hagakure-san, try taking off your glove and putting your hand over your ear."

The other girl complied and sure enough the transceiver in her ear vanished.

"Did it work?"

"Hell yeah it did. Problem solved! Actually," here she produced one of the rolls of capture tape and held it out to Hagakure, "we may as well abuse the hell out of that trick. Try holding this against your stomach or something and cover it up with your other hand."

"Oh, wow!" when this trick also worked like a charm, Hagakure sounded really Jazzed, "You're so smart, Jiro-chan! I can call you that, can't I? Please?"

"Sure, knock yourself out, Hagakure-chan."

"Yay!" Jiro felt a pair of arms wrap around her for a moment and wondered if she should feel awkward about being hugged by her naked teammate. She decided that since this was technically Hagakure's Hero Costume, it didn't count. She patted the other girl on the back as best she could with her arms pinned to her sides and she let go just as All Might's voice rang out over the intercom.

"That's five minutes! Start!"

"Come on, Hagakure-chan. Lose the shoes and let's get going. I think they're on one of the higher levels!"

The pair made their way to the third floor without incident, with Kyoka stopping every so often to plug into a nearby wall and see if she could hear anything. This finally bore fruit when they were about halfway to the stairs leading to the fourth floor.

"Hold up." Kyoka kept her voice low and raised a hand to make sure her partner got the message. She tapped her ear to signal Hagakure to activate her transceiver.

"What is it, Jiro-chan?" even the faint whisper was picked up loud and clear. These things had some seriously good mics in them. Kyoka followed suit and activated her own, keeping her voice low as well.

"They're on the floor directly above us. I can hear footsteps…probably Koda's from how heavy they sound. I don't hear Asui, but odds are she's up there too. If she was trying to hunt us down, I don't think she'd wait this long to show herself."

"So what do we do?"

"We follow the original plan; you're gonna go ahead of me and make sure they don't know you're there. If this works, we could get the drop on one of them with your capture tape."

"And then they'd be outnumbered! That's a great idea, Jiro-chan!"

"Thank you, but hush!"

"Oops! Sorry~"

They climbed the stairs and Jiro, hearing Hagakure's rough position, started climbing when her partner was already about two-thirds of the way up.

"I'll give you instructions through the transceiver. At this point, you should probably be as quiet as possible, okay?" She received no response, but heard the footsteps stop at the first intersection. She had to give the invisible girl some credit, she was super quiet when she wanted to be. If she hadn't taken the time to lock on to the sound of her footsteps before, she might not have been able to hear her at all.

"Okay, take a right, then it should be the third room on the left. If the door is open, go in. If it's not, then wait until I get it open and dash in there while I distract them."

Moment of truth time. She turned the corner, hugging the wall and sure enough, the door was wide open.

 _Score! It's almost like they're inviting us in! Heh. They probably didn't think that I'd be able to pinpoint them so easily, but I've got a backstage pass to this concert!_

Kyoka made her way silently to the open doorway and glanced inside. She immediately saw a large, papier-mache bomb identical to the one she had seen while watching the first match tucked into a corner. Standing in front of it, actually facing it, was Koda.

 _He must be keeping an eye on it to make sure Hagakure doesn't snatch it from behind his back. That's smart, but he's leaving himself wide open. Too bad, he seems like a really shy guy, so this'll probably scare him a bit, but he is a Villain right now, after all. Can't be helped._

"Hagakure-chan, in five seconds, get him with the tape."

Kyoka counted down in her head and then burst into the room, eyes darting around to see if she could find Asui just as the roll of capture tape appeared from nowhere and unfurled, poised to wrap around the unsuspecting Koda-

"Koda-san, ribbit!"

Two things happened simultaneously. First, Koda whirled around, arms spread wide before making an exaggerated hugging motion on the space in front of him. The surprised "kyaa!" from the air made it clear that he had captured Hagakure in a bear hug.

Second, a long, slimy, pink thing wrapped itself around her from her neck to her midriff, effectively pinning her Earphone Jacks in place and rendering her immobile.

"Ah! What the hell?!" Kyoka looked up and saw Asui clinging to the section of wall directly above the doorframe. The frog girl gave her a semi-apologetic smile around her tongue that was currently trapping Kyoka.

"Ribbit. I thought you might try something like that, so I used Koda-san as bait. You had the idea stuck in your head that one of us would be out searching for you since that's what happened in the first match, so you and Hagakure-san didn't pay as much attention as you could have. You fell right into my trap, Heroes. Gerorororo."

Daughter of a bastard. They'd been played. That evil laugh was adorable though.

"As both Heroes have been captured, the Villain Team wins!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The observation room was abuzz with excitement. All Might was exceptionally pleased with the outcome of this match. Both teams had formulated and executed excellent plans in his opinion and he knew that the use of the microtransceivers would add an additional layer of entertainment to the whole spectacle.

"Did you see that? That went off like clockwork!"

"I never expected that from Koda!"

"I was only paying attention to Jiro-san and Hagakure-san, so I was really shocked at the end!"

He allowed his students to chat amongst themselves while the four participants made their way back to the rest of the class. When they entered, he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Well, that was well done by both sides, I must say! The Villains won again, but it could have easily gone the other way. I think we will use the same format from the first match, since I like how that got you all thinking before. Let's hear it then! The good and the bad!"

Kaminari was the first to raise his hand this time, bursting out before he was even called on.

"I don't know if this counts, but did anyone else notice that it went almost exactly like Midoriya said it would, with the Quirk synergy and using the environment and everything?"

"Told you." Bakugo was smirking from the crowd.

"Actually, I think that deserves to be addressed." Yaoyorozu chimed in, "Even if it was predicted, it doesn't change the fact that Jiro-san and Hagakure-san worked together seamlessly and took full advantage of their Quirks. Their only shortcoming was, as far as I can tell, that they were so focused on springing their own trap, that they didn't stop to consider that the Villains could do the same thing."

Jiro twirled one of her jacks around her finger with a sheepish look on her face.

"Yeah, we walked right into that. Props to them for having us pegged like that. I even thought I figured out their plan when I saw Koda watching the bomb, but that was all a deception to get Hagakure-chan within hugging distance."

"I'm still kind of embarrassed by that, thank you very much Jiro-chan." from the position of her gloves, it seemed like Hagakure was crossing her arms, "He was really holding me tightly there! I was all pressed up against him and everything!"

Poor Koda meanwhile was covering his face with his hands.

"Oh, it's not like I'm mad at you or anything, Koda-kun. It was just…kind of embarrassing."

Koda was visibly relieved at this and gave her a thumbs-up while tapping himself on the chest as if to say "It's okay, I felt the same way."

Midoriya decided to contribute next.

"I was surprised at Asui-san's plan, honestly. It couldn't have been more perfect. She was able to set a trap for the Heroes while at the same time making sure she was always present to keep an eye on the bomb. Koda-san was a real team player with that too. I get the feeling that even if they had only captured one of the Heroes, it wouldn't have made much of a difference in the end. They were just better prepared. Ah, no offense Jiro-san, Hagakure-san. Your plan was good too, it was just…"

"Their plan was better. I totally get it, Midoriya. No hard feelings. I honestly feel like I've learned a lot from this!" Jiro gave the boy a reassuring smile and Hagakure flashed him the peace sign to show she agreed.

"That is good to hear! After all, that is the point of this exercise!" All Might was indeed very pleased. This was exactly the kind of result he had been hoping for with these matches: everyone had done their best and had come out of it better than when they had gone in. "I wish to re-iterate that you all performed excellently, but there can only be one MVP. That MVP is the one who orchestrated the winning plan and embraced her stronghold completely, Asui! She was able to formulate a plot that made Koda's Quirk disadvantage completely irrelevant in favor of his physical attributes. Adapting to the situation is the name of the game and she has proven herself a highly proficient player!"

There was a moment of polite applause before All Might headed for the stairs to take them to the next location.

"Now, let us proceed! It is time for our third match! The Villain Team of Bakugo and Shoji will be given the customary five minutes once we arrive to properly entrench themselves and then the Hero Team of Midoriya and Uraraka will be allowed to begin their infiltration!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was more excited than he had expected to be. He didn't expect that he'd lose to Deku in a straight-up fight, but it would be interesting to see what kind of plan he came up with. Speaking of which…

"Hey, Tentacles." his tall teammate glanced over at him from where he had placed the bomb and one of his arms turned into an ear, showing that he was giving Katsuki his attention.

"Do you think you could take Uraraka in a fight?" Tentacles blinked at him and another of his arms turned into a mouth.

"As long as I can avoid being hit with her Quirk, it should not be that difficult. I take it you are planning on fighting Midoriya-san then?"

"Damn right I am. I've been looking for the chance to go all-out with him and now that I've got it, you better believe I'm taking it!" Tentacles nodded, seeming to understand. Damn it was tough to read the expression of a guy when all you had to go by was a pair of eyes not covered by his ninja mask and various sensory organs that he swapped out with his hands at will.

"So, your plan is for both of us to charge them from the start?" Katsuki shook his head.

"No. The plan is for you to stay here while I go down to meet them."

"I would like to help you if possible."

"Look, your strength is as a sensor, right? With the ability to have extra eyes and ears you're probably really good at that, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you'd make a better guard than I would. Plus, you can keep an eye on things and radio me if anything comes up." Katsuki let out an exasperated sigh, "Fact of the matter is, Deku's a smart guy and he's really good when it comes to support. I'm gonna try to keep both of them pinned down for as long as possible but there's a good chance that he'll find a way to get Uraraka past me. That's why I need you running surveillance and guarding the bomb, got it?"

"What makes you think he won't be the one who gets to me while Uraraka-san distracts you?"

"He won't."

The two looked at each other for a few moments, saying nothing. Eventually, Tentacles nodded to Katsuki.

"I understand. I will keep in contact with you. Good luck."

"Yeah."

Good thing he hadn't argued too much, because at that moment Katsuki was itching for a fight and God as his witness he was going to get one.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Are you okay, Deku-kun?"

Izuku was honestly not sure. He knew he should be nervous, terrified even, but a big part of him was looking forward to this.

"…I think I'll be alright once we actually get going. Right now, this waiting is just…it's doing things to my head." Uraraka nodded sympathetically.

"Yeah, it's like when the doctor counts down from three before giving you a shot."

Well, that was certainly one way of putting it.

"We should talk strategy. That'll help take my mind off of it, I think."

"Okay! What's your plan, then?"

"…Kacchan will probably come straight for me. He's not the type to sit still and let the clock run down. I guarantee that he'll be on us as soon as he knows where we are."

"Makes sense."

"What's more, he knows that I'm a team player, so he'll probably have Shoji-san guarding the bomb in case I manage to get you past him."

"So the plan is for the two of us to take him down together and then go for the bomb?"

It _should_ have been. That really should have been his plan. It was a no-brainer that would have put them at a numbers advantage in both encounters, but…

"No." Izuku shook his head and Uraraka cocked her head at him, clearly puzzled.

"Why?"

One word. Such a simple question, really.

Why was it so hard for him to answer?

"Deku-kun?"

"I could say that it was because there was no guarantee that we'd be able to beat him quickly enough to find the bomb and get it away from Shoji-san. I could say that with his sensory abilities, Shoji-san could always just head over to even the odds when he realized you weren't coming. I could say a whole bunch of things here, but…" he fixed her with his gaze, trying to make her understand, "…the truth is that I just feel like I need to do this. I need to show him that I'm not just his Sidekick anymore. I need to show him what I've become, what I've _really_ become. Does that make sense?"

"Oh!" she smiled like he had just clarified something for her, "So it's like a fated battle between men or something! You could have just said it was guy stuff, Deku-kun; I'd have understood that."

Was that it? Was that really all it was? He didn't think so, but he couldn't think of any better way to say it. Some of this conflict must have shown on his face, because she reached out and patted him on the arm.

"I appreciate you trying to explain it to me, but if it's too hard you don't need to worry that much about it. It's fine, really!"

He appreciated that. He appreciated that more than he had thought he would, honestly. He knew that his reasons for this were selfish and self-serving and unbecoming of a Hero. He knew that his first priority should always be the mission at hand, but just this once…

…Just this once he hoped he could be forgiven for putting his own desires first. Once he had said what he needed to say, he would focus completely on the mission.

…Now if only he could find the words.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Hey…what's up with this atmosphere? You could cut the tension with a knife!" Eijiro, like everyone else in the room, found his eyes locked onto the projections that surrounded them.

"I understand what you mean, Kirishima-san." Iida adjusted his glasses, having removed his helmet to get a better look at the proceedings, "Just look at their faces; they look as though they are about to go to war!"

Eijiro considered this, digging deep into his manly instincts to try and find the answer.

"I think…" he eventually hazarded, "…I think this has been a long time coming. I think there's something that Midoriya wants to prove and it's not something Bakugo's willing to accept. Not without a fight." he locked eyes with Iida for a moment, "I feel like we need to watch this. I mean _really_ watch it. This isn't going to just be a match; this is going to be an all-out brawl. A real clash of manly spirits."

"Yes…" All Might half-muttered, still loud enough for everyone to hear, "…I believe this is something that everyone should witness."

There was one student amongst all of the others whose gaze held a sharper, more searching quality than the rest. Mismatched grey and blue eyes looked like they were trying to pierce through the projections and see beyond them to something else entirely.

"Midoriya…" the whisper was so low that not even Jiro heard it, "…show me."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

He had been expecting the call, but he still found himself unprepared when it came.

"Five minutes are up! Heroes, begin your infiltration!"

Izuku smash-leaped up to an open second-story window, having been rendered weightless by Uraraka's Quirk. She was currently on his back but weighed significantly less than him so the jump was easy to make. Once they were in, Uraraka touched her fingertips together and cancelled the effects with a whispered "Release!"

Izuku immediately activated his transceiver and his partner did likewise. They had agreed that they should take no chances, as neither of them knew quite how sharp Shoji's senses were.

"Okay, so far so good. If I know Kacchan as well as I think I do, then he'll have set up shop on the top floor. He knows that I'd think that though, so he's probably on the second-highest floor instead."

"Why not the ground floor?"

"He's dead-set on being Number One. He wouldn't want to be any lower, physically or metaphorically, than he had to be. Plus," he added as an afterthought, "on a higher floor, it would be harder for us to run away from him if things got too hairy."

He felt a couple of fingers press down on his famously-poofy hair that was somehow being contained by his mask.

"Okay, poor choice of words." he glanced at Uraraka and saw her smiling impishly, clearly having gotten the result she wanted. Even in a situation like this, she was still finding ways to make him feel better.

 _I really am lucky that I got partnered with her, huh?_

They had gotten partway through the third floor, when they heard the sound of footsteps from someone who was making no effort to hide them.

"Uraraka-san, make me float, but hold me down so he doesn't get suspicious. You'll know when to release it."

His answer was a hand on his shoulder, pressing down even as he felt his body want to float upwards. As Kacchan rounded the corner and planted himself in their path, he felt the fingers give an involuntary squeeze.

"Yo, Deku." his voice sounded calm…almost distant.

"Kacchan." Izuku was unable to quash the sudden feeling of butterflies in his stomach that he was quite sure had nothing to do with currently being weightless.

"Don't call me 'Kacchan.'"

"Don't call me 'Deku.'"

"Fuck you, I'll call you what I want."

"Fair enough. Same here then."

It was familiar. The same ritual they had gone through a hundred times throughout their history.

This time, it felt different. There was a tension in the air that was difficult to describe. The two of them looked their best friend in the eye and, though they didn't know it, had the same thought:

 _This is it._

"I don't suppose I could convince you to give up your evil ways and surrender peacefully? We were friends once, Lord Explosion Murder."

"I thought so too, at least until you _abandoned_ me during that fight against Doctor Vertigo!"

"You know I had no choice!" Izuku made a slashing motion with one of his hands, "He was afflicting all of those poor people with motion sickness! I had to save them! There were _children_ for God's sake!"

"SHUT UP!" oh, he was _good_ , "You have no idea what it was like! Up was down, left was right, forward was back! So long…he kept me hooked up to that device for _so long_ , Deku!" his shoulders slumped and trembled as he took a shuddering breath before he began to break out into sinister chuckles, "…But he's not around anymore. There was only one way to stop him…and I took it."

"I see he succeeded in inverting more than just your senses, Kacchan; he inverted your very heart itself! Your sense of justice has become warped so badly that you cannot even recognize good and evil anymore!" not to be outdone, he put the overactive Midoriya tear glands to work, managing to squeeze out a single tear, "You were a brother to me…but I can see that you are truly beyond saving. I shall harden my heart and do what I must."

"You will try."

The pair of them had had their transceivers activated the entire time and, unbeknownst to them, the group in the observation room was currently losing its collective shit.

"You know, Deku," the tension had lessened enough that Izuku could breath normally, but he knew it was just the calm before the storm, "this really is just bad luck on your part, but I have to admit it's as good a way as any to answer a question I've had kicking around in my skull for a while now, so I'll take it."

"Would you believe I feel the same way?"

"Heh. Strangely enough, yeah. Don't forget though, I'm a Villain for now, Deku, so I'm coming at you full force! Let's see how the Sidekick stacks up against the real thing!"

With that, he charged, propelling himself forwards with his Blast Rush Turbo before hauling back with his right arm, preparing for his favorite opening move.

"Uraraka-san, back!"

Izuku didn't wait for her to comply, launching himself towards the wall on his right with a speed that he knew Kacchan wouldn't be expecting, given that he was currently weightless. He kicked off and upwards at an angle, flipping in midair so he ended up on the ceiling with his opposite leg, which he had already been focusing his power into. He kicked off and swung his own right at Kacchan's head, feeling his weight return to him at the last moment.

"SMASH!"

The Explosion user's reflexes were phenomenal, but not enough to avoid the hit completely. The last-second return of Izuku's weight had given him a boost and instead of hitting him in the head, Izuku found his fist buried in Katsuki's gut, swiftly followed by a satisfying impact as he collided with the floor, gasping as the air was forced from his lungs.

"Uraraka-san, run!"

She complied. It was just like they had planned. She gave him one last backward glance before she vanished around the corner and booked it for the stairs.

Izuku stood up and took two steps backwards, waiting for Kacchan to regain his feet. His friend took one deep breath to re-inflate his lungs before kipping up on the spot and fixing Deku with a curious gaze.

"Why didn't you follow up after that? You should know that a surprise attack only works once, Deku. You just blew your shot at helping her."

Izuku found the words.

"Because that's not how I want to win this fight, Kacchan. This is about you and me, so I'm gonna take you down with just my own strength." Izuku adopted a fighting stance, making his intent clear, "I am here, Kacchan, and it's time I made you understand what that means!"

Katsuki flexed his fingers, generating a pair of explosions, preparing a retort. This was lost as Izuku immediately began inhaling, sucking up the fire from said explosions.

"…You bastard."

"You're going to have to finish me quickly or fight without using your Quirk. Otherwise all you're doing is helping me stock up."

Katsuki's mouth widened in his trademark battle grin.

"Is that right? Take however much you want, Deku, but you know what they say…" a sudden flash of movement and he was in Izuku's face, "…it's not the burn that gets you, it's the BANG!" and he unleashed an explosion point-blank into Izuku's face.

Rather, that was what he was aiming for. Izuku was able to evade the brunt of it, though he was still knocked to the side feeling like he had just been punched in the head. It looked like the costume had done its job though, he noted as he took in this latest offering of flames, since his mask was still in one piece after taking that heat.

Kacchan really hadn't been holding back with that last one. Combined with the pair from earlier and the bits and pieces he had been stocking up since the Quirk assessment, Izuku felt like he was somewhere between fifteen and thirty percent.

Okay, so he still wasn't that good at gauging it. It was a work in progress, darn it!

Izuku feinted to one side but Bakugo was not fooled, tracking him with pinpoint precision. This time there was no dodging and he was sent flying backwards from an explosion to the chest. His breath was knocked out of him, but he still used Flame Magnet to make the fire follow him, managing to regain his breath just in time to inhale it and stand back up.

"Was that one good hit all you had in you, Deku? Should I call it quits here and go after Uraraka instead?"

Izuku started walking towards his friend, his movements strangely stiff.

"You know, me and Tentacles up there together could probably waste her in about ten seconds flat. Maybe I should send you flying again and give that a whirl? It'd probably get me MVP status pretty easily, don't you think?"

Suddenly, Izuku took a step that seemed to cover about three times the distance it should have and Katsuki found himself on the receiving end of a knuckle sandwich. He instinctively spun with the impact and bashed Izuku with one of his gauntlets but he felt that the impact was off slightly.

"You're not going anywhere." Deku had taken the hit alright, but in doing so he had captured Bakugo's arm in an iron grip and with a sharp jerk brought him back into face-punching distance just in time for a left hook to send him to the floor, "Not until I'm done with you."

That hit hadn't been a Smash, but it had still been clean and damnably satisfying.

"Until _you're_ done with _me_?" a foot buried itself in Izuku's gut from out of nowhere, doubling him over just in time to see a glowing palm rapidly approaching his face. One explosion-infused strike later saw him bouncing off of the ceiling and colliding roughly with the floor, dutifully absorbing the fire, "Don't you have that backwards, Deku? _I'm_ the one who decides when this ends and I'm nowhere _near_ done with you yet!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Ochako had made it to the fourth floor of the five-story building and just as Deku had predicted, after checking a few doors she found the room that held the bomb…and Shoji.

"Uraraka-san."

"Shoji-san."

"I must ask that you give up now. I would rather not have to hurt you if at all possible. At least, not until this entire city goes up in flames."

Ochako took an involuntary step backwards. Shoji _really_ sold that well. His intimidating stature and inscrutable features made that threat feel all the more credible. She shook her head. Now was the time to get into character.

"I can't do that, Shoji-san. Maybe you should consider giving up instead? If you come along quietly I'm sure I could convince the authorities to go easy on you. After all, you're only Lord Explosion Murder's accomplice, right?" Shoji took a step towards her and spread his arms, fanning out the webbing that connected them and cutting a very impressive silhouette.

"Is that what you think? You know as well as I do that his lust for vengeance against his former friend is all that drives him now. No. He could never have organized an attack of this scale on his own."

Okay, she had to admit this was kind of fun.

"No! You can't mean…"

"That's right. I am, in actuality, the final creation of Doctor Vertigo! I shall carry out his vendetta against this city, even at the cost of my own life! Now, come at me, Infinity Girl!"

"I guess it's time to show you how I got that name!"

With that, she leapt at him using the extra oomph provided by her spring-loaded boots, arms spread wide to maximize the chances of catching him if he tried to dodge. What she was not prepared for was Shoji to seize her by the wrist, spin around, and fling her into the opposite wall. She remembered, rather belatedly, that he had achieved the highest score in grip strength by a factor of about two and, as she now discovered, it was not just his hands that possessed that degree of strength.

"Agh!" the sound of her collision echoed throughout the room and she fell to the floor, unable to breathe for a couple of seconds while Shoji stood in front of the bomb, his expression unreadable but his one set of crossed arms saying everything: I'll beat you with two arms tied behind my back, Hero.

Ochako rose to one knee, pretending to be more damaged than she actually was while subtly bracing one foot against the wall behind her and the other on the floor in front of her.

"Not bad, monster."

"But of course. The late Doctor's genius is incomprehensible to the likes of you. Now stay on the ground where you belong. If you rise again, then I shall not be as merciful as I was the first time. That hit must have taken away at least a third of your strength."

"Heh, and here I thought Vertigo's final creation would at least have _some_ of his brains."

Shoji's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean, Hero?"

"Didn't he ever teach you basic math?" this was going to suck, but it was her only chance. Ochako touched her fingers together in her release pose, but instead of cancelling her power, she turned it inwards and rocketed towards Shoji with all the strength her legs and springs could muster, "Infinity divided by anything is still infinity!"

Shoji was not prepared for the sudden speed increase and resorted to catching Ochako and diving to the side at the same time, so his now-weightless body and hers collided with a wall instead of the bomb. On the upside, she had succeeded in turning him weightless. On the downside, she was now cocooned in his arms and webbing with no easy way out. She cancelled her Quirk before the nausea could affect her too badly and then quickly reapplied it to him before he had the chance to recover so the only weight holding them down was hers. She was positioned awkwardly against Shoji's abdomen, making it hard for him to stay standing due to the shift in his center of gravity…or lack thereof.

"Deku-kun, I go-"

* **BOOOM** *

An earth-shaking explosion rocked the entire building at that moment.

"Deku-kun! What was that?! Are you alright?!"

"Bakugo-san! What happened?!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was in the process of getting his ass kicked up and down the hallways of the building. He had managed to get in a few good hits here and there, even landing another Smash in the process, but he suffered from the problem of wind-up time, a problem which Bakugo did not have.

He was relentless, not giving Deku an instant to plan anything other than dodge, block, or attack. It was clear that Izuku's earlier speech had struck a nerve and his opponent had abandoned any sense of caution, opting for a full-force offensive.

Desperate for even a short reprieve, Izuku launched a desperate Smash at Katsuki's head but the other boy ducked before springing back up and nailing him in the chin with one of his metallic kneepads, snapping his head back and knocking him into a wall. Izuku tasted blood.

An odd "ding" sounded from one of Katsuki's gauntlets, accompanied by a momentary blink.

"Ah, the first one's loaded. You know, Deku, this might be a good chance to prove my point once and for all."

Izuku knew exactly what was coming. He had gone over Kacchan's costume design notes with him to make sure everything was adequately explained and it had been impossible to miss _that_ little feature.

Katsuki's Quirk worked in two parts: The first was that he could secrete a nitroglycerin-like substance from his palms, while the second was the ability to detonate that substance to create his explosions. There was a limit to the raw amount he could safely secrete at once though, which meant that without running the risk of hurting himself, he could only create explosions up to a certain level of power.

These gauntlets removed that limitation. Their function, apart from doubling as both weapons and armor, was to store up the excess fluid so that he could unleash it all at once in a massive, limit-breaking explosion.

Izuku knew he would make sure that the attack wouldn't kill him. He wasn't worried about that.

What he _was_ worried about was the catastrophic structural damage such an attack was likely to cause.

"Kacchan, you can't use that in here! You'll bring down the building!"

"Don't worry about that, Deku. Did you happen to notice where you are right now?"

Izuku didn't know what he was talking about, and it was hard to focus with the sun streaming in from the win…dow…

Shit.

"Ah, you get it now. Yeah, even if I take out that wall there, it won't bring down the building. It's made of one-hundred percent concrete underneath all this metal plating, you know. All the practice buildings are made like that. Probably because Cementoss works here. That means that there's no shortage of load-bearing walls in this place! We can afford to take out one or two!"

This was not good.

"Now, Deku," Katsuki pulled back on one of the large extensions on his right gauntlet, causing it to snap back an inch or so, allowing a large pin to pop out of the side, "let me show you the kind of power that you'll never be able to match! DIE!"

He pulled the pin.

* **BOOOM** *

Being expelled from a confined space through a small hole in the gauntlet, the explosion was propelled forwards instead of simply blasting everywhere. It tore up the hallway as it rocketed towards Izuku, who just barely managed to smash-leap to one side in time to avoid taking it head-on. The result was that, instead of being violently expelled from the building, he was sent flying down the hallway, his respirator smashing as it clipped a wall, causing his head to jerk violently to the other side and probably being the only thing that saved him from a broken jaw.

This was the turning point. He couldn't lose his breath again, or the fire he had reflexively latched onto would just be wasted. Using the momentum of his spin, Deku gathered One For All into his limbs as best he could and as soon as he felt himself touch the wall, he _pushed_.

"SMASH!"

Where one or two limbs might have busted through the wall, four spread the impact enough to merely crack it and send Izuku flying right into the inferno he had summoned to himself. He inhaled desperately, cutting it close enough that he felt the exposed skin around his mouth crisp slightly before he finished absorbing it all.

" _Deku-kun! What was that?! Are you alright?!"_

That was a lot. He felt like he was at about half capacity right now and as he got to his feet, he heard another telltale "ding."

"Not bad, Deku. Do you think you can handle another one?"

His quads and back muscles hurt from catching himself on the wall, but Izuku forced himself to straighten up and face his opponent. He exhaled slowly and felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He chuckled to himself, struck by the absurdity of the situation.

"Hey, Kacchan?"

"What?"

"Don't you think it's kind of funny? You said you were going to hit me with the kind of power I couldn't ever match, but by doing that you _gave_ me the power to match it."

"What are you saying, Deku?" Izuku's grin had long-since passed into "shit-eating" territory. His eyes were glowing orange like coals and he felt a burning inside of him that flooded through his entire being. It felt _good_. His fear was gone, his fatigue was nonexistent and his injuries didn't matter. He was walking towards Bakugo now, arms raised in a momentary gesture of ceasefire.

" _Deku-kun! Say something, please!"_

"I'm alright, Uraraka-san. Listen, I need you to give me your rough location upstairs right now."

He spoke softly, barely moving his lips, but she got the message, because she quickly responded.

" _From the stairs, two rooms in and one down to the left."_

"Good. I'm going to give you a signal and when I do, I need you to make that bomb float, okay? We're only going to have one shot at this."

" _Deku-kun, I don't know if-"_

He flipped a switch on his transceiver, setting it to send-only mode. He had reached Kacchan by now.

"Well, you see, what I meant was-" he bolted. He tore ass down the hallway with a desperate, manic energy that he had not possessed just moments before, hearing Katsuki swearing and running after him. Two rooms in, then left, then two over, then one more to even the distance.

He stopped and whirled around, right fist cocked back, willing the fire to the surface and into his arm. He didn't have time to be precise here, he needed Kacchan to react without thinking.

"Deku, get your ass ba- OH FUCK!" Katsuki skidded to a stop just short of being level with the first door in this new hallway.

In spite of the fact that he had never seen this technique before, Bakugo had heard it described on multiple occasions and besides that, his instincts were screaming at him. He primed his left gauntlet, finger on the pin, ready to pull at the slightest-

"Now, Uraraka-san!"

The flames burst from Izuku's arm, the costume not being able to withstand the intensity and disintegrating from the hand all the way to the right chest from the force of the emissions.

"NEVADA SMASH!"

"DIE!"

A fist shot forwards at the same time that a pin was pulled and a pillar of fire raged towards a concentrated explosion.

The impact was nothing short of catastrophic. The Nevada Smash was more powerful than the explosion by a significant margin, but the flammable material contained within it combined with the force was enough to direct a large amount of said force upwards and outwards.

Enough force to, say, send the two combatants flying away from each other and blow a sizeable hole in the floor above them, blowing out every window on their floor and above in the process.

That…was a bit more than Izuku had bargained for.

Oh shit.

He used the hand that was currently functional to switch his transceiver back on.

"Uraraka-san! Are you alright?!"

For two heart-wrenching seconds, he thought he might have made a fatal miscalculation. Then his transceiver came to life and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

" _Deku-kun…don't ever do that again."_

His adrenaline had left him. He sagged into the section of wall that he had been flung into.

"Are you okay? And Shoji-san?"

" _Yeah. Yeah, we're both okay. A bit banged up, and Shoji-san probably isn't too happy with me right now but…you know."_

"Thank God…"

"The Heroes have retrieved the bomb! The Hero Team is victorious!" All Might's voice rang out over the intercoms that had not been completely destroyed in the explosion, "You also scared everyone half to death, so thank you very much for that!"

"What?! NO! Deku!" Katsuki was stomping down the hallway towards Izuku, "Why did you do that?! You could've kept going! We weren't done! We can both still move, right?! We could've kept going!"

With the adrenaline and combat high not clouding his mind anymore, Izuku felt a bit sick, but he forced himself to his feet, ignoring the screaming protests of his right arm.

"Don't you think I wanted to?!" he found himself shouting at Katsuki, his throat stinging from the dust and smoke in the air, "For the first time, you really looked at me as a rival and I didn't want that to end! Of course I didn't want it to end, you dumbass!" he was crying now. The impact of what had just happened and what could have happened came crashing down on him all at once, "But…being a Hero isn't about what _I_ want; it's about doing everything I can to help others and stop Villains. I can't let my personal desires get in the way of that…not like I did today."

Izuku fell to his knees, his last dregs of strength having left him. Katsuki stopped in front of him, his expression twisted into a combination of anger, concern and revelation. Eventually, he bent down and threw Izuku's left arm over his shoulders, hauling him to his feet.

"Well, I guess that settles that then."

"K-Kacchan?"

"You're still nowhere close to my level, but I can't really call you a Sidekick anymore after a stunt like that, can I?" he gave Izuku a sidelong glance and a soft smile made its way onto his face, "Message received, Deku: You're here alright."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

All Might was currently recovering from what he suspected may have been a minor heart-attack, and the students were apparently doing the same.

"He's insane. That's the only explanation. Dude is completely out of his gourd."

"Seriously, what the hell was _that_?!"

"You know," Kaminari said with a thoughtful look on his face, "I don't think the super-strength is actually a part of Midoriya's Quirk; I think it's just a side-effect of carrying around those _massive balls_."

"This is not the sort of behavior that should be _praised_ , Kaminari-san!" Iida was having none of it. He had almost knocked his glasses off in the flurry of arm-motions he had just experienced and had nearly taken Aoyama's head off with his helmet.

"Merde…there is a limit to the amount of passion you can possess, Midoriya-san! How could you put your mademoiselle in such danger?!" Aoyama was also displeased, though his sharp smirk was present on his face as always. All Might wondered to himself if he was an example of that old wives tale about making a face so much that it got stuck that way?

The Symbol of Peace had nearly sprung into action himself before he realized that, _somehow_ , everything had turned out alright with even Midoriya as the most injured still able to walk. He would reprimand them properly when they returned and he would make damned sure they went to see Recovery Girl when all was said and done.

"Did anyone see how Uraraka got away from Shoji though? I couldn't see through all the dust." Kirishima got the conversation back on track.

"I don't know," Sato supplied, "we should ask them that though; it's bugging me now that I think about it."

After a few moments more, the four combatants made it back to the observatory with Midoriya still being supported by Bakugo. Uraraka was sticking close to the boy's other side, seemingly trying to figure out a way to help without aggravating his injuries. Shoji brought up the rear, walking somewhat strangely.

"I really am sorry, Shoji-san! I just couldn't think of any other way…"

"It is alright, Uraraka-san. You acted in the heat of the moment and it would be a perfectly valid move in a real battle, which is what this was meant to simulate."

"Uraraka-san, Ribbit." Asui piped up to ask the question that was on everyone's mind, "What exactly did you do to break free of Shoji-san's grasp? He had you for sure."

"Well, you see," Uraraka was clearly uncomfortable, "He was trying to find a good way to stand while being weightless and he shifted me a bit lower to the ground and took a wider stance. To be fair, it worked. Then Deku-kun told me I had to be ready when he gave the signal and I couldn't think of anything and…well…"

"She delivered blunt force trauma to my genitals." Shoji took pity on the poor girl, "After that, she got to the bomb and made it float in time to avoid the destruction of the floor. I was still floating as well, so I too was spared most of the damage."

The males of the class winced in sympathetic pain at this description, with All Might being no exception.

"Well, with that mystery solved, let's proceed as normal, even if this match was anything _but_."

"He's crazy! They're both crazy!" Mineta burst out.

"Between the initial tension, the banter, and the climax, I think I've got whiplash." Jiro added.

"I agree that everyone was _very_ in character, and I also wish to applaud the improvisational skills that were on display, both in combat and out." Iida was next, "However, I simply cannot condone the usage of such destructive powers in a situation where they were _supposed_ to be protecting both the building and the bomb, each for their own reasons."

"That final clash was really manly though." Kirishima debated, "Hell, the _whole thing_ was super-manly!"

"It was kind of the opposite of the first match in that they kept their transceivers active basically the whole time." Sero pointed out, "I'd like to ask how the hell Midoriya and Bakugo managed to keep fighting while Uraraka and Shoji were having their dialogue. That was pure gold."

"Honestly?" Midoriya grimaced, "I was kind of distracted at the time."

"Same here." Bakugo confirmed, "What happened?"

"You can all fill each other in on that when you are inevitably detained by Recovery Girl for at least a half hour." All Might interjected. In spite of his own vested interest in this match, they _did_ have a schedule to keep. He cleared his throat before continuing.

"In my opinion, which many of you seem to share, the match started out very well, but quickly devolved at the end. There was no reason whatsoever to resort to such destructive abilities on the part of Bakugo and Midoriya, especially given the reasons laid out by Iida. Even Uraraka made a near-fatal blunder when she sent herself flying towards both Shoji and the bomb. If Shoji had not had the presence of mind to evade as he did, he would have been forced back into the bomb which would have set it off prematurely. While this would, arguably, have still worked in the Villain's favor, it was not the objective of the assignment, otherwise everyone would simply punch their own bomb and have done. With this in mind, and given that he adapted to his role very well, and succeeded in protecting the bomb from Uraraka until circumstances spiraled out of control, I declare Shoji to be the MVP of round three!"

A smattering of applause later, All Might crossed his arms and looked at the battered and bruised combatants.

"I am strongly considering having you all go directly to Recovery Girl right now, Midoriya in particular."

"Do we have to, All Might-sensei?" Midoriya pleaded, "I really want to see the last two matches, if that's possible. It's not like I'm unconscious or anything, right?"

Concern, pride, exasperation and sympathy all warred within All Might. The correct course of action would be to send the boy straight to the infirmary, his desires be damned. At the same time, he did not wish to deprive him of the remaining potential learning experiences of the day.

No. He had been indulgent enough when he let that match continue on far past what he should have. He should have stopped it the instant Bakugo fired off that weapon and most _certainly_ he should have stopped it when it became obvious what the two of them were going to do after that. He had to put his foot down.

"You do indeed have to, Midoriya my boy. I am sending you as well, Bakugo my boy. You took a significant amount of damage as well and you really should get yourself looked at. I will leave it up to Uraraka and Shoji if they also wish to go now instead of later. Uraraka took a nasty hit during her fight with Shoji and as for Shoji…a trip to the infirmary would probably help to alleviate your…*ahem*… discomfort."

"I shall take you up on that offer, Sensei." Shoji responded with an air of relief.

"Yeah. I should probably go too." Uraraka also accepted after a moment of consideration.

"Very well then. Off you all go. Do you require guidance?"

"No, All Might-sensei," Midoriya responded, "I think I remember the way from when I was there yesterday."

By the gods, the boy _had_ been in there just yesterday, hadn't he?

"Very good, my boy."

With that, the four students exited the building and made their way to the infirmary, where a no-doubt soon-to-be irate Recovery Girl awaited them.

* * *

 **Boom. Sorry if some of those physics don't exactly...physics. Rule of Cool was in effect for that last clash, and hopefully you all thought it was suitably cool.**

 **I also had entirely too much fun with their improv. True to form, that was entirely made-up on the spot. I just needed something of an ice-breaker and the "don't call me Kacchan/Deku" exchange just didn't seem like enough.**

 **I really, really hope I did that match justice as a whole.**

 **Numbers time. I did a quick and dirty bit of math to figure out just how strong Shoji actually is compared to, say, Midoriya. We're gonna use the grip strength numbers and assume his overall strength is comparable to this. He got a score of 540 Kg with three hands, which makes his strength for each hand 180 Kg, or the equivalent of Izuku using about 6.5% of One For All for a 3.25x multiplier. He's pretty strong, in other words. Sato is still stronger than him on a per-limb basis, but since he has three times as many arms, his overall capabilities are higher. If we were to figure out how much of One For All Izuku would need to match Shoji's grip strength score, it would be just over 19%, about a 9.6x multiplier. Damn. In case you're wondering how I got those numbers, you just take whatever your target score in Kg is, and divide it by 56, which is canon Izuku's un-augmented score. The result is the multiplier you'd need, and then you just double that to get the percentage since we've already clarified that one percent is a 0.5x multiplier, with 100% being 50x.**

 **I was initially planning on getting through all four remaining matches in this chapter, and that obviously didn't happen, so the remaining two will be next time. That means there's still time for people to chime in with their thoughts/ideas on Tokoyami+Kirishima (Heroes) vs. Iida+Ojiro (Villains) and Sero+Kaminari (Heroes) vs. Aoyama+Sato (Villains).**

 **Ten chapters makes me fell like we've really hit a milestone here.**

 **As always, thank you for reading.**


	11. Chapter 11: Taking Center Stage

**We hit another milestone, and this is a big one. As of the time this chapter is being posted, Torchbearer has 101 reviews. This is phenomenal, and so are the 222 Favorites and 336 Follows. You guys really do help keep me motivated, so I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to each and every one of you.**

 **ALSO! We got some really good questions in the reviews for chapter 10. In fact, a few of these warrant semi-lengthy answers, so I'm going to address them in the post-chapter notes. I'll state which ones these are, so please check the end-of-chapter Author's Notes for them!**

 **Review time:**

 **jaciro500: I actually find it hilarious that at least a couple people are attributing the "massive balls" statement to Kirishima when it was actually Kaminari who said it XD. The truth is the statement fits either one of them but I just ended up going with Kaminari for it because Kirishima gets more of the spotlight as it is anyway.**

 **Also yeah, poor Shoji.**

 **Jerrend: Thank you! I had a lot of fun writing that and it's good to know that people enjoyed it.**

 **wildtrance: Thank you! It makes me happy to know that you enjoyed it so much and that I was able to keep everyone in character.**

 **RandomDude: I can totally imagine said voice, and I am very pleased that I was able to bring forth that much amazingness. Thank you.**

 **That Present Mic idea actually makes a ton of sense, since he definitely knows his way around media and would know a good thing when he saw it. I'll have to do something with that.**

 **Yeah their fight did have some similarities to canon for sure. What you said about the tone difference and minor details was exactly what I was going for. I was aiming to do a direct compare/contrast with canon to sort of highlight the differences that are already present even so early in the story. It is good to know that I succeeded.**

 **Hopefully you enjoy these last two fights too!**

 **I do have some plans for the Class President voting. It will for sure not be exactly the same as it was in canon, though I'm not 100% on what the final end result will be after all is said and done. I'll have to give that some thought. There are arguments for and against keeping Iida as Class Prez (he's just so good for it).**

 **Hektols: That's an interesting thought for Tooru. Maybe somewhere down the line once she gets tired of running around naked all the time.**

 **I'm glad to know you enjoyed the acting.**

 **They sure do. All eyes were on them for different reasons than in canon, that's for sure.**

 **sremiehzla: It was a Star Wars reference, yes.**

 **Thank you for this. It warms my heart to know that you hold this story in such high regard. I will keep it up for sure!**

 **Ezylryb: Thank you. I hope you enjoy this one too!**

 **origamishishou: I actually did read Darker Sides of Deku over the course of the week and therefore now understand the joke. Good story.**

 **Also, nice Incredibles reference.**

 **A class D &D campaign...is this something people would like to see? I would totally enjoy writing it, though it would obviously not take place until the U.A. Dorms happen. I'll have to put a note in the post-chapter A/N asking about this.**

 **I did enjoy making Jiro punny. I know she only really does it once or twice in canon but it stuck with me.**

 **He probably could have but he's still in his aloof (well, MORE aloof) phase.**

 **Again with people thinking this was Kirishima when it was Kaminari XD. Like I said earlier in this A/N, it could honestly have been either one but Kaminari needed some love.**

 **The 0bservanc3: *sees massive, incredible review, cracks knuckles* HERE WE GO**

 **First off, thank you for this in-depth review. I actually read it a few times over the week to absorb everything. I will absolutely incorporate people's ideas into the story if I can think of a good way to do so. I feel this is one of the major strengths of fanfiction and I would be remiss not to take advantage of it.**

 **I love how much people are digging my characterization of Todoroki. For sure, he has more of his father in him than he's willing to admit.**

 **It's amazing what just a little bit of extra confidence can do for someone like Izuku who is so enthusiastic about this kind of subject matter. All he really needs is someone to ask him the right questions and good luck getting him to shut up XD. I'm kind of like that too about certain things, so it's really easy for me to write.**

 **Match 2: I've said right from the beginning that I want to flesh a lot of characters out more than canon does, even if it's in little ways like this. I would probably have still incorporated her anger but you making a point of bringing it to my attention made me realize just how important it was to really pay attention to it.**

 **IN REGARDS TO HAGAKURE'S QUIRK, CHECK THE ENDING A/N.**

 **Poor Koda indeed. He got a lot more than he bargained for with that hug XD. I'm going with the canon approach that he is not actually mute, just very shy.**

 **Match 3: Hell yeah he is. He's really a super-smart guy, he just lets his emotions and pride cloud his judgement.**

 **I'm glad you like their dynamic. I do too.**

 **The day Eijiro fails to comment on manliness is the day he's actually Toga in disguise.**

 **This is the feeling I was going for. I wanted to really emphasize that, while this is a serious match, they're not out for blood.**

 **This sort of reaction to Deku's self-aware selfish moment is what I wanted. Just like how he has had an impact on Bakugo, Bakugo has had an impact on him as well, especially in terms of his thirst to prove himself. I wanted to have their behavior almost mirror each other with their pre-match planning to really drive this point home.**

 **That is exactly how I named the Nevada Smash, yes. I actually have five named special moves at this point: Nevada Smash, Arizona Smash, Chicago Fire, *CENSORED DUE TO SPOILERS*, and Utah Smash. I wanted to use Texas but canon already took that.**

 **Thank you for your thoughts on the matches once again. I took some elements of this and incorporated them.**

 **IN REGARDS TO AOYAMA'S QUIRK, CHECK THE ENDING A/N.**

 **I think it would be a mistake _not_ to have an infirmary scene or two. In fact, that's what the chapter starts with!**

 **Thank you. You're great too.**

 **ScarletCatnip: Yeah, I can see that happening. He'll have chances to fight, of course (USJ, anyone?), but for the kind of fight he's really looking for where it's a knock-down, drag-out, one-on-one slugfest might be a while coming. The problem with Kacchan is that once he gets going he doesn't want to stop until there's no question as to who won and who lost and he doesn't count it as a victory worth having if it's not close. For a guy as powerful as him those are some high standards.**

 **I have a confession to make: I'm actually very behind on the manga and I need to take the time to fix this. I glossed over some major notes and whatnot but the last time I sat down and really read it it was only up to just after the Overload fight...I think just at the start of the Culture Festival.**

 **...I know I should be ashamed XD. I'm gonna go read it after I post this.**

 **Rosalix Archangel: Thank you very much! I hope you continue to enjoy it and it makes me happy to know that my story is binge-worthy.**

 **Apocryphax: Oh don't worry man I don't see this as flaming at all! It's a very good question that deserves to be addressed.**

 **FOR A CLOSER LOOK AT ONE FOR ALL AND OVERALL POWER, CHECK THE ENDING A/N.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **Now, on to match four!**

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Taking Center Stage

"I swear I don't know what goes through their heads; letting children have at each other like some sort of gladiatorial bloodsport!"

When Midoriya, Bakugo, Uraraka and Shoji had entered the infirmary, Recovery Girl had wasted no time in sitting Izuku and Katsuki down onto beds and Ochako and Mezzo down onto chairs. She had then proceeded to clean Izuku's wounds and demand an explanation. They had given her the essentials and by the time she was done making sure Izuku wasn't going to get an infection, the little old lady was filled with righteous fury.

"Ma'am, with all due respect," Shoji had one pair of arms crossed, one pair resting on his legs and one pair with his fingers threaded together, "you understand why this is necessary. For what it's worth, we bear each other no ill will for this. It is all in the name of raising each other up for the day that we become Heroes."

"Young man," Recovery Girl had begun ministering to Bakugo, deciding that disinfecting everyone came before healing since there were no immediately threatening injuries, "I have lived over five of your lifetimes; I _understand_ far more than you can imagine. It doesn't mean for one instant that I have to like it."

Shoji blinked and inclined his head to the elderly woman.

"Of course, ma'am. I apologize." Recovery Girl waved a dismissive hand at him and then walked back to Izuku as Ochako and Mezzo had no visible injuries for her to disinfect.

"Now, Midoriya, I've seen you burn yourself up this way twice and unless I am much mistaken, this isn't quite as bad as the time at the entrance exam. Arm, hand and wrist have multiple fractures, muscles are torn, shoulder is dislocated and you have second-degree burns all down your arm. Compare that to last time where your arm was effectively shattered and the burns bordered on third-degree and this is practically a cinch to heal." she held up a finger to illustrate her next point, wagging it at him in an admonishing gesture, "However, unlike the first time, I am not going to heal you completely right off the bat. You remember our talk yesterday about how my Quirk works, right?"

"Yes." Izuku nodded, "It uses my own stamina to accelerate my healing processes. From what I can tell, it also prevents scarring. I should have had burn scars after the first time, but I don't."

"It depends on how far I push the healing, but yes. You were just in here yesterday, dear boy. A single large dose of healing would be unnecessarily strenuous for your body at this point, so you're getting two smaller doses."

After getting a nod that said he understood, Recovery Girl kissed Izuku on the cheek and her Quirk activated. Before everyone's eyes his mangled arm set itself and the burns lightened up considerably until they looked more like a bad sunburn than anything else. Izuku's eyelids immediately began to droop as Recovery Girl deftly wrapped his arm in bandages and put it in a sling so he would not aggravate it. She then laid him down with instructions to take a nap. He obeyed wordlessly and immediately.

"Wow…I know I saw it before but it's still really something." Ochako was impressed, as were Katsuki and Mezzo, even if they didn't say anything.

"Right, you're next, young man." she approached Bakugo, "Your injuries aren't as bad and you haven't been in here before, so we'll get you fixed up in a jiffy. You'll probably still want to get a bit of rest though." He let out a grunt that seemed to be enough assent for her, as she kissed him on the cheek next. The scuffs, bruises and small cuts all healed rapidly, leaving flawless skin behind. Katsuki was clearly trying to play the tough guy but he was obviously feeling the fatigue.

"…'s not so bad…'m jus' g'na…rest m' eyes f'r minn…" he was out like a light, falling sideways onto the bed.

Recovery Girl made to have a look at Uraraka next, but she stopped her.

"Please, do Shoji-san next. I can wait a bit longer. Besides…his condition is kind of my fault."

Shoji looked as though he was going to protest, if the unfolding of his hands was any indication, but Recovery Girl shook her head.

"Speaking from years of experience, young man, when a girl says something like that you should just smile, nod and accept it gratefully. Chivalry has a time and place." Shoji sighed and nodded, one of his hands transforming into a mouth.

"Thank you, Uraraka-san. I admit I am still experiencing some discomfort." Ochako rubbed the back of her neck and grimaced, going a bit pink.

Shoji had the good graces to use his tentacle mouth to whisper the circumstances of his injury into Recovery Girl's ear. She nodded and kissed him on the cheek. Shoji immediately sagged in his chair with a sigh that was more of relief than fatigue.

Next was Ochako's turn. She explained that she wasn't in all that much pain, but her back felt bruised and tender when she tried to stretch or turn. It turned out that the impact with the wall had led to her shoulder blades and a couple of ribs receiving hairline fractures that were not particularly bad, but certainly uncomfortable. Recovery Girl healed her with minimal effort.

"Now, you two are free to leave if you want to or you can stay if you feel that some rest would do you good. I need to get Midoriya set up with an IV drip."

Though she did not ask for it, Shoji ended up retrieving the necessary hardware for her and holding Izuku's arm in place while she inserted the IV. For someone so large and powerful, he could be surprisingly gentle when he wanted and one could not overstate the utility of having six arms.

Ochako watched the process with mild curiosity, having scooted her chair to Izuku's bedside.

"What's in the IV?"

"Oh," Recovery Girl waved her hand, "Water, vitamins, glucose, that sort of thing. It's meant to keep his body hydrated and replenish what energy we can. Nothing too fancy really."

Ochako watched with morbid fascination as a trail of liquid traveled down the tube and into Izuku's arm.

"So, I take it that you will be staying for a while, dear?" Ochako nodded.

"Yes. If it's alright."

"I already said it was your decision; I just wanted to confirm. What about you, young man?"

Shoji appeared to consider this for a moment, apparently torn.

"Er, Shoji-san, if I could make a suggestion?" he said nothing but fixed his attention on Uraraka, which she took as the go-ahead, "Maybe you should go back to class so you can at least catch the last match? You could also let everyone else know that everything's okay."

"That sounds like a good idea," Shoji extended his mouth tentacle, "when should I tell them to expect you back?"

"Well," she shrugged and gave him a tired smile, "I'm not sure. I plan on sticking around until he wakes up. They. Until _they_ wake up."

Shoji nodded, got up, thanked Recovery Girl and left.

"You know," the U.A. nurse said in a casual tone after the tall boy had left, "I sometimes find that the honesty of Heroes is a double-edged sword."

Ochako suddenly found the tiled floor incredibly interesting.

"I won't stop you from staying, dear, but you might want to at least change out of your Hero Costume first. I can promise you that the two of them will be out for at least an hour, probably more in Midoriya's case."

Ochako realized that she was indeed still wearing her costume and decided that the nurse's suggestion was a good one.

"I think I'll do that, ma'am. Do I need a hall pass or…?"

"I wouldn't think so but I can give you one anyway if you want. Lord knows it's usually people giving out passes for students to come to _me_ so I rarely have a use for them."

"Yes, please. Thank you, ma'am. I'll be right back!"

Ochako bowed to the elderly nurse and quickly left the infirmary, being careful to avoid breaking into a run. Pass or no, she didn't want to be caught running in the halls. Especially while she was still wearing her costume.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

 _I wonder what these shadow-dwellers have in store for us?_

 _ **Who cares? It's not like anyone stands a chance as long as you have me, right?**_

 _You really could stand to be a little…cooler._

 _ **Hey,**_ **you're** _ **the one who needs to be all morose to keep our powers at their peak.**_ **I'm** _ **free to be however I want~**_

"Tch."

"Yo, Tokoyami, everything alright?" Kirishima was looking at him with an expression of innocent curiosity, "You've been kinda quiet, you know? Come on, man! Get pumped! We can't let the manly display those four before us put on go unanswered! We need to go in full-force from the very start!"

"Kirishima-san," Fumikage shook his feathered head, "you have been going on about that since we moved to this location. I do not believe that Iida-san and Ojiro-san are opponents we can afford to underestimate, especially now that they are steeped in the darkness of Villany."

Kirishima's sharp-toothed grin faltered and he put his hands on his hips.

"Who said anything about underestimating 'em? I know they're both full of manliness too and besides, it'd be insulting not to take them seriously. The whole point of this assignment is to get a feel for real combat, right?"

Fumikage had to resist the urge to massage his forehead.

"If this were real combat then your plan would be suicidal."

"Eh?!" Kirishima looked genuinely shocked, "What are you talking about? I can take whatever they can throw at me! That's what my Quirk is _for_ , man!"

"Does your Quirk make you invincible?"

"Well, no, but- "

"Then it has a limit?"

"Well, of course it does. All Quirks do."

"Can you say with one-hundred percent certainty that you could defeat either Iida-san or Ojiro-san before they got through your defenses?"

"I…that's not a fair question!"

"The world is full of unfairness, Kirishima-san, or were you not listening to Aizawa-sensei and All Might-sensei?" Tokoyami turned so he was facing his partner full-on and stared directly into his eyes. "Darkness abounds, tragedy consumes, and pain and fear are the forces that drive this world, even if most people don't want to admit it."

"Dude…that's not right."

"You are looking at this the wrong way, Kirishima-san." Fumikage gave Eijiro a grim smile, "It is true that these things all traditionally have negative connotations, but there are no such things as absolutes in this world. You might say that pain, fear and regret eat away at a person and forever change them for the worse, but you could also say that by having experienced these things a person can learn and grow. In the end…it is only by knowing fear, pain and loss that we can gain the resolve to prevent them from ever happening again. To me, that is what it means to be a Hero: embrace your darkness and use it to help others." a hand emerged from beneath his cloak and extended towards Eijiro, "Use your past mistakes to guide others along a better path, one at a time."

Kirishima gave Tokoyami a bemused look before taking his hand and shaking it.

"You sound like you read a lot, Tokoyami."

"…I cannot deny that." Fumikage often gave silent thanks that, due to his unique physical form, he could not blush.

"So, what's the plan then? You know I'm all for the head-on approach, but I guess it wouldn't be fair to ignore what you have to say without hearing you out first."

"Have you noticed that every match so far has involved at least one team splitting up?"

"I mean, yeah." Eijiro nodded, clearly not sure where his feathered teammate was going with this.

"For the Villains, I believe that approach makes sense, but for the Heroes I see little point in it. For us, however, it would be the worst possible decision. Can you imagine why?"

"Well, I guess it would have to do with their Quirks, right? I mean, if Iida managed to get some distance between us, he could haul ass right back over to Ojiro or the bomb and we wouldn't have a prayer of catching him. As for Ojiro…I dunno. Guy's a martial artist of some kind judging by his getup."

"That is part of it, yes. There is also one other factor that you may be unaware of. You see, we have a numbers advantage."

" **Yo."**

"The hell was that?!" Kirishima whipped his head around, trying to find where the new voice had come from. His question was answered as a birdlike creature comprised of what appeared to be solidified darkness emerged from Tokoyami's body. It remained connected to him by a tendril of darkness, but it's glowing yellow eyes shone with an intelligence all its own and those claws looked like they could do some damage.

"This is my Quirk: Dark Shadow."

" **So, you're my partner's partner? The hell does that make you to me?"**

"Dude, you have a sentient Quirk?! That's badass! It's like having a bro to watch your back all the time!"

"' **It' is also right here and identifies as male, thank you very much."**

"Ah, sorry man! I didn't mean- "

" **Relax, I'm just busting your balls. I can never get a rise out of Edgar Allen Poe over here so it's nice to be able to ruffle someone's feathers for a change."**

"Oh. Okay then, uh, is Dark Shadow _your_ name or just the name of his Quirk?"

" **Yes."**

Tokoyami sighed and withdrew Dark Shadow back into his body.

"My apologies for his behavior, Kirishima-san. He has a tendency to be rather…flippant."

 _ **Fuck you.**_

"Anyway, we should get back to planning before-"

"The five minutes have elapsed! Fourth match: Tokoyami and Kirishima as the Heroes against Iida and Ojiro as the Villains, START!" All Might's voice boomed over the field and Fumikage had to resist the urge to swear.

"Alright! Planning time is over, so we'll compromise: We'll charge 'em head-on but we'll do it _together_!" Kirishima fist-pumped, clearly pleased with his tactical genius. Tokoyami wanted to argue but there was literally no time for that anymore.

"Fine. You lead and I'll support you from behind."

The pair entered the building full-speed ahead.

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Tenya Iida was doing his best to get into the spirit of things. Truly, he was. He could not stop himself from being distracted by thoughts of his injured classmates though. Mashirao seemed to notice, since he had approached his teammate and given him a good-natured punch on the arm.

"Hey, Iida-san, you know they're going to be alright, don't you? Recovery Girl's the best at patching people up and even Midoriya-san was still able to walk."

Tenya knew that his expression could not be read as easily with his helmet on, so he made sure to nod appreciatively in addition to his grateful smile.

"I know, Ojiro-san. Honestly, we should count ourselves lucky that it took until match three for there to be any notable injuries. I feel that we shall not be so fortunate with our match, given that three of the four participants are close-range specialists."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Between last match and this one, it sure seems like the close-range fighters are on display, doesn't it? Kirishima-san should be easy enough to lock down, but it doesn't help that I have no idea just what Tokoyami-san can do." Ojiro rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, "Oh well, no use worrying too much about it. Nothing to it but to do it, right?"

"Heh. I suppose you are correct. Very well, what would you propose?" Tenya crossed his arms and gave Ojiro his undivided attention.

"Well, I think that in a drag-out fight like the kind Kirishima-san will probably be looking for, I'd be a better match for him than you would. Your mobility would probably be better spent on Tokoyami, since we don't know what he can do. You'll be in a good position to react to him as long as I can keep Kirishima-san busy."

"Indeed." Tenya actually rather liked this plan. It was simple and played to their strengths, "Having interacted with Kirishima-san on a couple of occasions, I believe him to be the type who would rather charge straight ahead than strategize or lay a trap. I do not know Tokoyami-san as well but it seems likely that Kirishima-san will impose his will when it comes to their course of action."

"Oh, so he's actually as knuckleheaded as he looks? Good to know. I can probably goad him into a one-on-one match pretty easily then." Mashirao had a mischievous grin on his face and Tenya had a feeling he was going to have his share of fun before all was said and done.

Fun, huh?

It certainly seemed that everyone else was enjoying themselves by embracing the Hero/Villain schtick. Maybe he should try that too? It _was_ his role to play, even if it wasn't the one he would have chosen.

Then the starting signal was given and he could hear the door being kicked open all the way from their position on the fifth floor.

"Well, time to go to work. Gotta earn my Henchman paycheck somehow, right Boss?"

"Wait, _I'm_ the boss?"

"Well, yeah. It just kinda makes sense, you know? You've got the feel of a leader. Maybe it's the armor? Meh. I'm going fishing for Kirishimas. I'll let you know when I land one. Keep comms open, yeah?"

"Of course. Good hunting, Henchman Six."

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Eijiro Kirishima was _pumped_. The third match was just so chock-full of manliness and badassery that he couldn't help but take it as a challenge.

He and Tokoyami had headed straight to the second floor, since there was no way that the Villains would be stupid enough to hide the bomb on the ground floor. Even _he_ wouldn't do that. They slowed down some on the second floor, giving the rooms a quick scan, but they soon determined it too was empty and made their way up one more level.

That was where they saw Ojiro apparently meditating in the center of the hallway separating them from the stairs, legs crossed and tail tucked underneath him like a cushion. As soon as they got within thirty feet of him, his eyes snapped open and he gave them a condescending smirk.

"Hey there, Heroes. I was wondering how long it would take you to get past the guards outside. Frankly, I could have done it in half the time by myself, but I guess I shouldn't have expected too much."

Did he just-

Oh _hell_ no. That simply would not stand.

"Oi, scumbag!" Eijiro took an aggressive step forward and extended his arm, pointing at the living embodiment of the arrogant kung-fu guy archetype, "I'll have you know we didn't even have to _use_ our Quirks to get rid of those scrubs! How about you get off your ass and I'll show you a _real_ fight!"

Ojiro rose from the floor using only his tail, legs still crossed and arms still folded.

"Interesting proposal. Perhaps if you are able to entertain me, I might even consider letting your partner pass? Tell you what: if you can take one hit from me and remain standing, I'll let him go."

"Kirishima-san, this is obviously a trap." he could practically _hear_ Tokoyami rolling his eyes, but he just couldn't let this go. He had been, in no uncertain terms, called right he fuck out. He simply couldn't call himself a man if he walked away before proving Ojiro wrong.

"No, what it _is_ is a guy who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. He's underestimating me here. I'll take his best shot and stay standing, then his honor will demand that he keeps his word. You'll be free to go after the boss while I take care of this bozo."

He walked forward until he was a couple of paces away from Ojiro, who had assumed a normal standing position by this point.

"You're on. Hit me with your best shot." Ojiro's smirk widened and he took a deep stance with his left hand facing Eijiro palm-out and his right balled into a fist at his waist.

"I'm going to hit you in the chest. I suggest that you prepare yourself."

"Oh," Eijiro's Quirk activated, spreading throughout his body and giving his skin a rugged appearance almost like flesh turned to rock. He felt strength coursing throughout his body just like it always did when he used his Quirk, Hardening, "I'm gonna do a lot more than just that."

Then Ojiro _moved_.

The last thing Eijiro had the chance to see before the impact came was Ojiro snapping into his new stance, having switched his legs, while his right palm shot towards Eijiro's chest.

"HIYAAH!" ***THOOM***

Eijiro's feet were suddenly skidding against the ground as he was forced violently backwards by the completely unexpected impact. He felt pain but he couldn't understand _how_. It was a deep pain, like it came from within him instead of from the outside.

He couldn't breathe…

" _I am here, Kacchan, and it's time I made you understand what that means!"_

" _Don't you have it backwards, Deku?_ I'm _the one who decides when this ends and I'm nowhere_ near _done with you yet!"_

" _I shall carry out his vendetta against this city, even at the cost of my own life!"_

" _Didn't he ever teach you basic math? Infinity divided by anything is still infinity!"_

 _That kind of determination…_

A booted foot caught the floor and abruptly halted his backwards momentum.

… _like hell I'm going down that easily after such manly words!_

Eijiro stood back up straight, his Quirk having been deactivated when he had the wind knocked out of him and took a slow, steady breath.

"Well, Ojiro? I'm still standing."

"So you are. Here after I thought I'd found the weakness of your Quirk, too. I guess it's protection isn't anything to sneeze at, eh?" Mashirao seemed surprised but also pleased, "I guess a deal's a deal. Get out of here, Tokoyami-san. Your partner and I have some business to take care of."

Tokoyami shared a brief look with Kirishima, who nodded at him, before he walked past the two combatants and ascended the stairs.

"Before we do this for real, mind if I ask what the hell you did to me?" Eijiro knew it wasn't the time, but he was genuinely curious.

"Oh, that? I thought it was obvious. That was a palm strike."

"Yeah, but how'd it get through my Hardening?"

"Ah, I understand the question now. Well, you don't strike me as a martial artist, so I'm not surprised you don't know. You see, open-handed strikes have a much greater surface area than most other attacks, so they can generate a much larger amount of shock on impact. The lungs, being filled with air, are an especially weak target when it comes to things like that, particularly when you target the solar plexus like I did just now."

Eijiro's eyes widened as he understood what Ojiro was saying.

"Do you get it now, Kirishima-san? I wasn't trying to _break_ your Hardening; I just decided to circumvent it entirely! At least, that was my plan. It seems that your defenses cannot be overcome so easily, and I doubt you'll give me such a perfect opening again. All that leaves is Plan B."

"What's Plan B?" Ojiro's fist made a solid smacking sound as he jammed it into his palm, "I'm going to beat you senseless!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Eijiro charged Mashirao, hardening his arms and swinging a haymaker at his face. Ojiro grabbed his arm and jerked him forwards, throwing him off-balance and burying a fist into his gut before he had the chance to harden up. Luckily for Eijiro, he was still very well-muscled and his tensed abs were able to take some of the edge off. It still hurt though.

"Kirishima-san," Ojiro sent him to the floor with a spinning blow to the head from his tail, "I suggest that you keep your defenses up. This will be far too short of a match if you don't."

Jesus Christ the guy hit like a truck. It was like _his_ limbs were the ones that were hardened…

Oh. Right. Martial artist. Duh.

"Okay…" he raised his Hardening to the maximum and spread it over his whole body, "let's try that again!"

He knew he couldn't maintain full-body Hardening for long when he had already taken a few good hits. His only hope was that he could just bulldoze right through whatever Ojiro could throw at him and hope that he could come out on top in a dual exchange.

He charged again, this time keeping his guard up. Mashirao threw quick jabs that peppered his arms and abdomen, but he could safely ignore those. He needed to wait until he threw something big, something with his weight behind it…

Before long, said attack came in the form of an uppercut aimed at his chin after he had his guard broken by that damned tail.

 _Alright, Riot…let's see you grit those teeth!_

Instead of trying to guard or dodge, Kirishima countered with a right hook. Ojiro hadn't been expecting this and both blows landed simultaneously.

Eijiro's head snapped back from the force of the blow, a telltale cracking sound telling him that his Quirk had been breached and he swore he felt his brain rattle in his skull. He had to take a step back to catch himself, but he righted himself in time to see the results of his own punch.

Ojiro was on one knee, having been blindsided by his counterattack. It was clear that the punch was effective, but Eijiro knew his weight hadn't been behind it. It had been a last-second, desperate counterattack that just happened to hit: a lucky punch.

Lucky or not, he needed to capitalize on that. Eijiro charged again, hoping to get his hands on Ojiro before he could recover and restrain him. It was not to be, however. Ojiro used his tail to leap backwards out of reach and regained his stance when he landed, fists clenched and…bleeding?

Oh.

 _Oh._

"I can tell that your bones are solid from your punches, Ojiro, but you know how hardness works, right?" Eijiro slammed his fists together, generating sparks and a loud thud that sounded like two rocks being slammed together, "When two things ram into each other, the softer one gets hurt!"

"Tch." Ojiro grimaced when Kirishima found out what he had known for the entire fight: his time was limited. The more he tried to fight while his opponent had Hardening active, the more damage he would do to his own body. It all came down to which one of them could outlast the other.

"Come on, then!" Eijiro reinforced the damaged parts of his armor and charged again, not willing to give his opponent more time than necessary, "Let's see who can take a bigger ass-kicking!"

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Tenya had heard Ojiro's speech to Kirishima through the transceiver and correctly deduced that he had him detained. That was of some comfort to him currently, because he had his hands rather full dealing with Tokoyami, who apparently had a sentient Quirk that fought alongside him.

It was nowhere near as fast as Tenya was, but there were two factors that made it a pain to deal with.

First, it could come at him from any angle and seemed to be mostly impervious to his attacks. This resulted more in a stalemate than anything, since he could easily avoid most if its attacks and his armor protected him from the rest well enough. He could probably have gotten to Tokoyami himself with an opening eventually, or even just run down the clock until he would win by default, but the second factor made things infinitely more frustrating.

That reason being that Dark Shadow kept trying to go after the bomb per Tokoyami's instructions, so Tenya had to keep either fending off its attacks or moving the bomb out of the way. It was really quite annoying.

"Raah! You insignificant pests! You know you have no chance of defeating me in combat, so you are attempting to disable my device! Here I thought that Heroes were supposed to be honorable and courageous, but I suppose that can't be true for _all_ of them, eh, cowards?!" Iida decided to give good old-fashioned mockery a try. It seemed like a suitably Villainous thing to do, "Run, cowards! For I am _extremely evil_! Muahahahahaa!"

" **That's it! I'm gonna open this tin can and peck his eyes out! Kill the lights, partner!"**

At that moment, the lights went out in the room. Tokoyami had apparently planned this, having been right next to the switch when Dark Shadow had spoken. Iida wondered what this would accomplish, but he was soon given his answer.

Dark Shadow had grown larger and seemed more muscular than before, his yellow eyes were sharp and gleaming and Iida swore he saw him lick his…lips? Beak?

Either way he was coming at him significantly more quickly than before.

" **BERSERKER BARRAGE!"**

An overwhelming flurry of blows rained down on Iida as he backpedaled frantically, juking from side to side trying to find an opening but Dark Shadow was relentless in his new form. Iida leapt over a low swipe and delivered a kick to the side of his face, but all that seemed to do was piss him off even more.

Tenya released a burst of energy from his engines, sending him just out of range of the follow-up strike from Dark Shadow.

 _Damn it! Am I going to have to resort to that new technique? No! I cannot! It isn't ready yet!_

… _But what choice do I have?! Plus Ultra, right?!_

"Recipro- "

"The Hero Team wins!" All Might's voice suddenly interrupted the fight with a declaration of victory.

"What!? No! How?" Iida spun around and saw Tokoyami with his hand on the bomb.

"I admit you are far too fast for me to handle, Iida-san. Even with Dark Shadow's improved capabilities in the dark, it may have still taken him too long to defeat you. Fortunately, no matter how fast you may be, you cannot be in two places at once."

Impossible…

He had fallen for such a simple trick?

"I…don't understand! How did that _work_ on me? I was paying attention the whole time!" Tokoyami cocked his head in a very bird-like fashion.

"If I had to guess, I would say that your earnest personality played a part in things. You and Kirishima-san are similar in some ways, Iida-san. One of those ways is you have a fundamental view of combat as being one-on-one because that is the 'honorable' way of doing things. Or, perhaps you just discounted me as a participant in the battle once it became clear that Dark Shadow was the muscle. I could not say."

"…Damn it. Well-played, Tokoyami-san."

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"Wow, talk about sneaky."

"So, he's basically two people? Isn't that cheating?"

"No way! It's his Quirk, so it's all fair game. Or…unfair game?" Ashido tapped her chin as she debated the semantics of her statement.

All Might understood his student's surprise very well. If he hadn't read everyone's dossiers beforehand, he would have had no idea what Tokoyami's Quirk entailed. It was more a surprise factor than anything, so the Villains had no way to prepare for it.

Yet, would it have made any difference if they _had_ known? Everyone in his class had splendid Quirks full of potential in his opinion, but All Might had to admit that Dark Shadow was especially versatile. Tokoyami essentially had access to two minds and two bodies, even if they were connected. The added fact that he became stronger in the dark, when many Villains were active, only increased his viability.

As with the previous matches, he allowed his students to talk amongst themselves until the participants arrived. When they did, he noted the stark difference in the appearances of the two fighting pairs. Tokoyami and Iida were relatively undamaged, while both Kirishima and Ojiro looked like they had been put through the wringer. Only to be expected given the nature of their fight.

Kirishima had bruises forming on various parts of his body and looked extremely tired while Ojiro had fewer bruises but had drying blood all over his hands and trailing up to his elbows from where he had shredded his skin trying to combat Kirishima's Quirk.

In the end, Ojiro had emerged victorious. The initial edge he had gained from his devastating palm strike and follow-up attacks before Kirishima had gotten wise had been enough to tip the scales in his favor, but it had been a near thing.

"Well, that was very well done boys, I must say. Let's see what everyone has to say about the match!"

"Ribbit. I know that they won in the end anyway, but if Tokoyami-san had taken his opportunity to gang up on Ojiro-san from behind, then they could have triple-teamed Iida-san and won much more quickly."

"No way! That'd be super unmanly, Asui!" Kirishima was clearly not a fan of this idea.

"That may be so," Yaoyorozu chimed in, "but this was meant to simulate a real fight against dangerous Villains. It was obvious that you did exactly what Ojiro-san wanted you to do by rising to his taunts and a responsible Hero should always put the objective before their personal feelings. The safety of the civilians and the defeat of the Villains should always come first."

Kirishima clearly wanted to argue, but he couldn't deny that his well-endowed classmate was correct.

"You know," Hagakure said thoughtfully, "I think it was kind of cool that Tokoyami-san was so willing to leave though. That means he trusted Kirishima-san to handle things, right? He might not have won but he _did_ hold off Ojiro-san long enough for the bomb to be recovered so it all worked out in the end, didn't it?" Sero grimaced at this.

"I'm not sure whether it worked out or not is the point here, but I agree with the trust thing. I think Iida and Ojiro showed some of that too, since Iida trusted him to tie down Kirishima."

All Might cleared his throat.

"I agree with the general consensus that trust in one's teammates is important and that was on full display here. There was also, however, a certain amount of trust placed in one's _enemies_. In the end, this was what cost the Villains the match. I believe Tokoyami told Iida something to this effect after the match ended, but he and Kirishima were both so consumed with the idea of one-on-one matches that they failed to see the bigger picture. Kirishima failed to see that he was playing into the Villain's hands, while Iida discounted Tokoyami simply because he wasn't the one fighting, whether consciously or not."

Iida and Kirishima had the good graces to look chagrined.

"Ojiro also took a dangerous gamble when he let Tokoyami see his back. He was putting too much stock in Heroic honor and it could have easily cost him everything. Tokoyami is the one who adapted the best to the changing situation, kept his goal in mind, made full use of the terrain and eventually secured victory for his team. As such, I declare him to be the MVP of match four!"

A round of polite applause later, All Might told Ojiro to go to see Recovery girl about his injuries, while Kirishima was given the okay to wait until after the final match if he wanted.

"Actually, if it's alright with you, Sensei, I think I'll go with him. To be honest, I kinda wanna check on those other four and make sure everything's alright. Bakugo and Midoriya were pretty banged up. Besides, some of Ojiro's cuts look pretty nasty. I think he's still bleeding a bit. I should probably go with and make sure nothing happens since…it's kinda my fault, heheh." he punctuated his sentence with a guilty laugh.

All Might was proud of his student for showing such concern for the well-being of his fellows and had no issues granting him the permission he sought.

As the class exited the building that had served as the grounds for the fourth match, Ashido noticed the large form of Shoji jogging towards them.

"Ah! Shoji-san! Over here!"

Other classmates gave various exclamations of welcome mixed with questions about the status of their other three classmates. When Shoji had closed the distance, he filled them in.

"Uraraka-san is fine, but she decided to stay behind until Bakugo-san and Midoriya-san wake up." at the horrified expressions on some of his classmate's faces, he held up two sets of placating hands, "Ah, it is not as bad as I made it sound. You see, Recovery Girl had to give them larger doses of healing due to the severity of their injuries and the process has tired them out. Bakugo-san will be back to full health once he wakes and Midoriya will be fully healed after a second session with Recovery Girl tomorrow. Since he was just there yesterday, she could not heal him completely in one sitting without jeopardizing his health." as an afterthought, he added, "I am also fine."

All Might exhaled slowly. He was grateful for the news that his students would be alright, Midoriya in particular. He told himself it was because the severity of his protégé's injuries was so much greater than those of his other charges, but a small voice in the back of his head that sounded a lot like Recovery Girl asked him who exactly he was trying to convince.

"Thank you for this news, Shoji my boy. You have good timing as well, since we were just about to head to the site of the final match. It will be Sero and Kaminari as the Heroes versus Aoyama and Sato as the Villains!"

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Yuga Aoyama was a little disappointed. It was finally his chance to shine and a full quarter of the class would not be there to witness his brilliance.

Oh, he did not blame them, of course. They sustained their injuries while fighting valiantly (if not foolishly) and Uraraka's diligence in staying by Midoriya's bedside while he was injured was commendable (and adorable).

Now…a plan. He had a fairly bread-and-butter team in his personal opinion: Sato would be the vanguard and he would provide ranged support. There were only two potential snags in this brilliant plan and as far as Yuga was concerned, one of them wasn't really worth worrying about.

The lesser of the two issues was a result of Sato's Quirk. As his muscular teammate had explained it, for every ten grams of sugar he ingested, his strength would increase five-fold for three minutes and he could increase the time limit by another three minutes for every additional ten grams of sugar he consumed. It was straightforward and effective but it had one little snag.

The more sugar he consumed, the further Sato's cognitive abilities dropped and when his time was up, he would inevitably be extremely sleepy.

Yuga did not consider this to be an issue.

"Ah, my sturdy fellow, do not worry about your mental prowess for this match. I shall direct you with simple orders once the fighting begins. Besides, our objective is very simple, oui? We must simply stop the Heroes from getting to the bomb."

Sato clearly had his misgivings but Yuga assured him that all would be well.

The second issue was a far more pressing one: which Quirks they were up against. They knew that Sero could eject tape from his elbows, since he had been fairly open about it when people had questioned him about his oddly-shaped elbows.

They had no idea about his range, the strength of his tape, or any other specific details.

Kaminari had an electricity-based Quirk.

That was it.

That was all they knew.

Neither of their opponents had Quirks that were especially useful in the Quirk Assessment from the previous day, so they didn't use them. Plain and simple.

Now, Yuga had no doubts about his own abilities to lead himself and Sato to victory, but it was devilishly difficult to produce a solid plan when you really had no idea what you were up against.

Oh well. Hit them with a laser or a punch from a boosted Sato and they would stop being a problem.

Really, what was he worried about? Nobody could stop his twinkling.

Nobody.

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Denki Kaminari was more nervous than he was willing to admit. He knew his Quirk was strong, super strong even, but he couldn't help it. He always got butterflies in his stomach when things got real. It was one of the things he hoped being at U.A. could cure him of. If only he could get his shit together, then he could be the cool guy he kept acting like.

Thank God his partner was another cool guy like Sero. The two of them had hit it off almost immediately and Denki soon found that the lanky boy was both smart and chill.

Plus, his costume was cool.

"Say, Kaminari, I've got an idea if you're interested." Sero's voice was slightly distorted by his helmet, but still easy enough to understand.

"Spill, dude. I'm more of a lover than a thinker, if you catch my drift."

"Yeah, yeah I hear you, Casanova." Denki was pretty sure Hanta had rolled his eyes with that one, "Anyway, nobody else has tried this yet, so I think it has a pretty good chance of success."

Okay, _now_ he had Denki's full attention.

"So, my Quirk is actually really good for scaling buildings and whatnot. I could get up to the roof pretty easily and use the top entrance to take the Villains by surprise. In order for this to work though, I need you to be a distraction. See if you can get one or both of them to abandon their post and come for you. If you can take them out, great. If not, then just run."

All he had to do was grab their attention? He could do that. He could do the _hell_ out of that. He flashed Sero what he knew was his best "reliable cool guy" grin and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Consider it done, dude. I'll leave center-stage to you this time." Sero extended a fist and Kaminari bumped it just as All Might's voice rang out over the field.

"The five minutes is up! Let the final match begin!"

Just like he said, Sero immediately pointed his elbow at the side of the building and ejected a stream of tape that stuck to the wall. He then began retracting it and shot up the wall without apparent effort.

It was extremely cool. Denki couldn't let his partner upstage him _too_ badly, so he needed to put his game face on.

Said face consisted of a shit-eating grin and narrowed eyes, with his hands slightly raised at his sides, where he allowed just enough electricity through them for it to crackle visibly around them.

He knew he looked like a total badass.

He kicked the door open and waltzed into the building like he owned it.

To add one last bit of "oomph" to his presentation, he used the radio transmitter that was part of his costume to latch onto the frequency of the intercom for the building (the observation rooms had helpful lists just in case something came up).

 _Okay…showtime._

"Attention Villains!" his voice over the intercom had a neat, fuzzy tone to it. He sounded like a pilot or something, "My name is Denki Kaminari and I will be your ass-kicker today. As a courtesy, I'm giving you the option to jump out the nearest window and run away before I find you. I'm on my way up right now so I'd say that gives you about…five minutes. Have fun with that."

"Oh," he added as an afterthought, "one more thing: If you both decide to take the window option, kindly jump out of _different_ windows so I know that you're both gone. 'Kay thanks."

That was it. He just needed to play it cool. No self-respecting Villain could resist a taunt like that, right? Aoyama seemed to have a flair for the dramatic anyway, so he'd probably bite.

Denki made his way to the second floor and decided to ignore it and head straight for the third. He gave it a quick sweep, but found nothing, so he made for the fourth.

" _Hey, Kaminari, what's your status?"_

"Yo, Sero. So far nothing. I just got through looking over the third floor and I can't find 'em. I think they chickened out but I didn't hear any breaking windows, so I guess they didn't take my advice."

" _Alright. Just let me know as soon as you make contact. I don't want to give away my position until I'm ready to hit 'em."_

"Roger that. Here, lemme hit 'em up again."

Denki activated is personal radio again.

"Alright you pussies! I've cleared the first three floors of this building already, so you don't have much time left before your asses are mine! If you're gonna do something, I'd recommend doing it now while you still have the element of surprise!"

He entered the fourth floor of the building just as he finished his message and the wall in front of him promptly exploded.

"Ah, Sero?"

" _Yeah?"_

"I think I've got one. Probably Sato since he just put his fist through a concrete wall."

"You'd be right about that." the holder of the Quirk, Sugar Rush, stood on the other side of the large hole he had just made in a solid concrete wall.

With his fist.

With one punch.

Shit. Keep cool.

"Hey hey hey, check this out! One of you was actually dumb enough to come looking for me! Looks like I get to start this party a bit sooner than I thought!"

"Keep talking, punk. I'm gonna wipe that grin off your face."

With his fist, probably.

The fist that he had just put through a concrete wall.

This was starting to look like not a great idea.

"Oh yeah? Come and get me then. I gotta warn you though," Denki sent electricity coursing through his entire body with enough force that yellow bolts arced along his entire person, "you're in for a shock."

He had to stay committed to this. Hopefully Sero would work fast and the match would be over before things got too hairy.

"I'm gonna…I'm gonna…hang on a second," Sato took a small handful of a white powder that looked like sugar from a pouch on his belt and ate it. "I'm gonna smash you. Hold still."

He threw a hugely telegraphed punch that Denki was able to sidestep easily.

"I said hold still, damnit!" another whiff. Then another.

 _Hang on, was he always this stupid? I don't think he was. Something to do with his Quirk? Hey, whatever. He's a total pushover like this!_

It was then that Denki got cocky and dodged a punch a bit too narrowly, taking the hit on his shoulder.

Two things happened then. Firstly, Kaminari was bashed into a wall, wondering if his shoulder had been dislocated. Secondly, Sato was subjected to the electricity that was coursing through him, causing him to convulse violently where he stood for a brief moment.

 _Okay, arm still works. Damn that hurt!_

"Alright, tough guy. No more messing around!"

"Lemme smash."

"Ew, no." Denki extended a hand, "How about a handshake instead?"

"Uh…'kay?" Sato took his hand. This was a mistake. Denki shot a massive dose of electricity straight into his body until he saw his eyes roll back in his head, at which point he let go.

"Hah…hah…whew! Almost had to go full-power there. Good thing I didn't." he quickly checked Sato's pulse and found that it was still there.

"Good. Don't have to jolt him again."

"The Hero Team wins due to having captured or incapacitated both members of the Villain Team as well as having recovered the bomb!"

"Huh?"

It was at that point that Hanta rounded the corner with a very displeased Aoyama slung over his shoulder with tape wrapping him up from his shoulders to his thighs.

"Oh, hey man! You got him, huh? Nice."

"Huh? But my fight only lasted for a bit! How did you get down here so quickly?!"

"Funny story, actually. See, Aoyama here was so surprised when I showed up out of nowhere that he shot wide and gave me an opening to tag him. He tried shooting a few more times, but after I tossed him around a bit he got queasy and gave up."

"Hmph! I merely judged that if I must be defeated, then it should at least be a beautiful defeat of my own choosing. Truly, there is no way to stop my twinkling! Hohohoho~"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Wow. That was kinda…anticlimactic."

"I know what you mean. That was just…"

"Yeah."

"Ribbit."

All Might was slightly off-put by the outcome of the final match. He knew that a lack of knowledge about their opponents would put the Villains at a disadvantage, but he never imagined it would be quite so…pronounced.

The four combatants reentered the observation room and All Might opened the floor to thoughts from his students.

"The Villains fell for Kaminari-san's taunts hook, line and sinker. What we just saw was a prime example of a plan going off like clockwork. It was well-executed on the part of both Kaminari-san and Sero-san." Iida was quick to praise the work of the Hero Team.

"Now, that's not completely fair, Iida-san." Hagakure piped up, "Sato looked like he was prepared to ignore it, but Aoyama got really mad. Sato ate some sugar and stood ready for the Heroes to bust on in there, but when they didn't, he had to refresh his Quirk and then for some reason he just charged off. It was…kinda weird, actually."

"…'m tired…"

"See! He's still acting weird!"

"Ah, this is a side effect of Sato-san's Quirk, I'm afraid." Aoyama supplied, "He loses brainpower as he consumes more sugar."

"Oh! That explains why he fell for Kaminari's trick at the end there! I was wondering about that!" Kirishima was eager to contribute as always.

"I liked the way he took over the intercom system," Jiro looked like she was pouting a bit for some reason, "it was a real show-stopper. He took center-stage with that one for sure. It was…cool."

Kaminari beamed at her when she uttered that last word and gave her the peace sign.

"Well then," All Might began, "I think it goes without saying that both of our Heroes this time are strong contenders for MVP, but there can be only one. While it is true that Kaminari played his part wonderfully and was highly resourceful in the method he used to do so, the plan would not have existed at all if Sero had not thought of it. In addition to this, he easily captured both a Villain and the bomb without suffering so much as a scratch. As such, I believe it is only fair to award Sero MVP status for this, the fifth and final match!"

From the following applause, it seemed that nobody had any objections to this.

"Right, now everyone get changed back into your uniforms and head back to the classroom. Class should be almost over, so we'll just call it a free period for the rest of the day. Does that sound alright?"

Nobody objected to _this_ either.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"…and that's how he started hanging around me, I guess."

"Aww! That's so cute!"

"Tch. Shut up."

Izuku was lying in a bed, and he heard two familiar voices. Kacchan and…Uraraka? Why would they be in his room?

He opened his eyes to see the familiar surroundings of U.A.'s infirmary and then he remembered why he was there. He felt a lot better than before, but his arm still hurt and felt too warm.

He sat up and felt something on his left arm. When he looked over at it he found that it was an IV. Well, that explained that.

"Hey, he's awake. About damn time."

"Deku-kun!" Ochako rushed over to him and for a brief moment he thought she was going to hug him or something. It turned out that she was going for the IV, "Recovery Girl had a meeting to go to but she told me what to do if you woke up! Let's see…there!"

The IV was out of his arm and a small bandage had been applied. Now that he wasn't hooked up anymore, Izuku was free to swing his legs over the side of the bed and sit properly.

"Let's see…what else…oh! She told me to tell you that you need to come back and see her before class tomorrow and she'll finish up your healing. You might be a bit tired after that, but she figured you'd prefer that to spending the day without an arm and you should just grin and bear it."

A thought occurred to Izuku then.

"Uraraka-san, have you been here the whole time?"

"N-no! I mean…not the _whole_ time." she looked embarrassed for some reason. Izuku couldn't fathom why though; it was a really thoughtful thing for her to do, "Oh! Kirishima-san and Ojiro-san were here too! They just left a little while ago actually. Ojiro-san's hands were all torn up but he's okay now! They wanted me to tell you they were both really impressed by your match, both of you!"

"It could've been better." was all Katsuki had to say about that.

"If you two are feeling up to it, then maybe we could head back to the classroom?" Ochako overlooked her explosive friend's sour mood, "Class has been over for a bit but I wouldn't be surprised if people are sticking around to talk about things."

"Sure, I'm down. What about you, Deku? Didn't kick your ass _too_ bad, did I?" Izuku hopped off the bed and landed with a slight grunt.

"I'm alright I think. A bit bruised up but that'll all be over tomorrow. Recovery Girl probably focused on my arm more so than anything, which makes sense. We should probably change out of our costumes first though, Kacchan. Yours is fine but mine is all shredded from that last attack, so I need to get it to the Support Department for repairs."

The trio made their way to the locker rooms, Ochako waiting outside for obvious reasons. Katsuki was the first to emerge, having been able to use both of his arms to change. Izuku was taking noticeably longer, but when Katsuki shouted into the room asking if he needed help he politely declined.

"Didn't you notice he was having trouble when you were in there?"

"Couldn't see him. Our lockers are on opposite sides from each other. I knew it'd take him longer but I didn't think it'd take _this_ long."

It turned out that what had kept Izuku was trying to figure out what to do with his jacket. He had managed to roll up the right sleeve of his shirt and shove his bandaged arm through it, but the jacket was of a thicker material and so this was not an option. In the end, he just threw it over his shoulders like a cape with the top button fastened.

"Deku, you look like a fucking pirate."

"Well I didn't know what else to do!"

"You _could_ have, and this is just me spit-balling here, _not worn the goddamn thing._ "

"I…but it's part of the uniform!"

"You're injured! You have an excuse!"

"I dunno, I think it looks kinda cool." Uraraka gave her two cents, "I mean, if you combine it with his injuries it kinda completes the image, don't you think?" the two boys blinked at her, one considerably pinker in the face than the other, "Oh! Not that I'm saying I'm happy you're injured, Deku-kun! Of course I'm not!" she waved her hands in front of her as if to dismiss the very thought, "I mean, you scared me half to death with that last explosion! I didn't know what to think!" Midoriya looked very guilty.

"I'm sorry, Uraraka-san. I know you could have gotten caught up in it and when I realized that, I was terrified that I'd made some kind of unforgivable mistake."

"That's not what I…" she stopped herself mid-sentence and just shook her head, "It's okay. Just remember what I said and don't do that again!"

The three of them had almost reached the classroom by now and when Katsuki opened the door a veritable wave of sound hit them like a physical blow.

"Bakugo! Midoriya! You guys are alright!" Kirishima was the first to reach them, followed by Ashido and Hagakure.

"Baku! Midori! You guys really went at it huh?"

"Everything was so intense but then you also had that acting! Geez! How is it fair for you to be strong _and_ funny?!"

"Oi, I had to go to a _dark_ place to pull that shit off, No Face!"

"Kacchan, just take the compliment." Izuku's attention was then grabbed by a tap on his shoulder along with a "ribbit."

"Oh, Asui-san, sorry I didn't see you."

"Call me Tsuyu, Midoriya."

"Eh?! That's kind of…"

"Don't worry about it. I said it's fine, so it's fine, ribbit." she gave him an interesting smile due to her unique features and then stepped back so that someone else could have her place.

"I really cannot condone that kind of recklessness, you two." Iida was there and seemed torn between relief and disappointment. In the end, it seemed that relief won the day, "But it is good to see you both up and about."

"That match was Metal as hell!" Jiro had stood on a chair as opposed to trying to get through the crowd.

"You two are suddenly so popular with the ladies and all you did was beat each other up…damn it…" Mineta was sulking in the corner.

"You guys really got everyone all charged up after that! You should have seen how cool I was during my match!" Kaminari had somehow managed to get behind them and had thrown an arm around each of their shoulders.

"Everyone's being so noisy…"

" **What he** _ **means**_ **is 'nice fight' you guys!"** Dark Shadow popped his head out of Tokoyami's torso to say his piece.

"To be honest, I feel like we kinda lucked out with our match," Sero grinned sheepishly and scratched his cheek, "we had four others before us to use as a reference _and_ we had the element of surprise. It was kind of unfair."

"Ah~ But the world is full of unfairness, oui?" Aoyama was leaning against a wall near the door, striking what he obviously considered to be a fabulous pose, "Indeed, by the time it was finally my turn, I could barely contain my twinkling! I could have brought down the whole fortress if I had lost control~"

Things continued in this vein for a while but students gradually filed out as it became time for them to leave. Eventually, the last remaining were Izuku, Katsuki, Ochako and Tenya. They began making their way to the station as well. Eijiro had wanted to stick around but as before he had to leave so he could catch his train.

"Well, I must say, that was a rather eventful first day of class." the glasses-wearing speedster mused.

"I know, right?" the Zero-Gravity girl agreed, "It feels like it was a lot longer than that! So much happened!"

"Heheh…well it doesn't feel quite as long for me since, well, I was unconscious for about half of it."

"Right? First we don't get to finish our fight, then we don't get to see the last two matches. I feel like I got gipped."

"Come on, don't worry about it too much." Uraraka attempted to soothe the inheritor of One-For-All and his explosive companion, "This was just the first day, after all! I'm sure there'll be other opportunities to show everyone what we can do."

Little did any of them know that said chance would come far sooner than anyone could have imagined.

* * *

 **Goddamn. The Battle Trial ended up taking up the three biggest chapters I've ever written. I was originally planning on doing all this in just one or two? Past me was crazy.**

 **Now for the post-chapter explanations I promised in the review section!**

 **HAGAKURE'S QUIRK: I ended up going with the light-refraction school of thought, thanks in no small part to Cubicity by crazyman185. I don't think canon really goes into too much depth with her Quirk apart from "she's invisible," but I could be wrong. As for how exactly I envision this works, imagine a true invisibility suit. Not just octocamo a-la MGS4 or anything like that and nothing quite as simple as transparency either (because she wouldn't be able to hide objects then, and her food would arguably be visible even after she ate it, which canon shows us is not the case).**

 **How such a suit would theoretically work is by taking images from one side via microscopic cameras or something and projecting them onto the opposite surface to give the impression that the wearer is simply not there. This applies to every cell in Tooru's body as well as any and all bodily fluids, dead skin, etc (since we never canonically see her sweat, bleed, drool, cry, etc). This alone would not be enough to conceal objects, however, since by the logic we have just laid out said objects would still be projected onto the opposing surface.**

 **My explanation for this is that not only is Invisible Girl's active and constantly shifting, but it is also effected by her will, even if only on an unconscious level. Obviously no person would be able to consciously control billions of cells at once while remaining sane, so it is likely that her Quirk reacts to certain basic desires such as "I want to hide this" or something.**

 **Theoretically, if she was able to gain some level of conscious control, she would be able to reverse the refraction and actually generate light or possibly even turn her Quirk off for a limited amount of time.**

 **I know this doesn't really explain how precisely this works, but it's the best I can do. If I was able to explain the theory behind her Quirk in its entirety, then I would be a very, very rich man since I would have patented an invisibility suit. Sorry if this doesn't adequately explain some things, but hopefully it's enough to gain a basic understanding and show that I'm not JUST copying Cubicity in this regard.**

 **AOYAMA'S QUIRK: This was not something I actually gave any thought to before you asked me, so let's see what I can do with it. It would make sense to assume that his Quirk feeds directly from his stomach, give the effects of overuse. Since he specifically cites a collapsed stomach as one of the effects of overuse, and such a condition can be caused by a lack of anything in the stomach (be it food, fluid, swallowed air, whatever), I would hazard a guess that instead of just stomach acid, his Quirk actually feeds off of _whatever_ is in his stomach (presumably his stomach wasn't completely empty every time he used his Quirk. If it was, then that could imply he has some sort of eating disorder which isn't subject material I want to tackle), and not just stomach acid.**

 **Theoretically, he could improve his use time by eating/drinking beforehand, or even holding his breath in his stomach (if we assume that any form of molecule in his stomach is broken down and converted into fuel), which could explain why he often appears to be holding his breath while using his Quirk, and even the pose he fires it off in (by placing his arms behind his head and jutting his abdomen forward, he is stretching his core muscles. Possibly also stretching his stomach, allowing it to hold more air?).**

 **Again, not an expert on this topic, but those are my thoughts.**

 **ONE FOR ALL POWER SCALING: The important distinction to make here is that OFA does not simply give one "the power of 50 men" when used at 100%. Rather, it "multiplies one's physical prowess by 50." Semantics, you say? Not quite. You see, it requires nigh-superhuman strength to even USE 100% of OFA without damaging oneself. The simple fact that Izuku had to undergo such intense training just to avoid _killing himself_ is a testament to this.**

 **Darker Sides of Deku actually addresses Izuku's physical strength and, for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to use this author's numbers. They researched how much force it takes to deadlift a car, which is one of the feats Izuku was seen performing during his training. The answer is "anywhere from 500 to 700 lbs." Let's take the average and assume that Izuku can deadlift 600 lbs. The current deadlift world record (as of 3/6/2018) is 1,041 lbs, so this is well within the realm of possibility. This would mean that with base 5% Full Cowl, he can lift roughly 1,500 lbs and, for a brief instant of 100%, he could lift a staggering 30,000 lbs (that's 15 Tons).**

 **But we're not done. Oh no. Not by a LONG SHOT for you see, Izuku's current level of strength is only enough to use 5% of OFA safely, and this comes straight from All Might himself who would probably know a thing or two about it (I know that these numbers arent _exact_ , but they'll do for proving my point). If we assume that physical prowess scales linearly with how much of OFA one can control, then All Might would theoretically be 20 times stronger than Izuku WITHOUT TAKING ONE FOR ALL INTO ACCOUNT. This means if Eraserhead hit him with his Quirk (and this didn't snap him out of Muscle Form), then he would still be able to lift 12,000 lbs, which is the equivalent of Izuku using 40% of One For All.**

 **Those muscles aren't just for show, people; Dad Might is JACKED.**

 **How much can he lift when he's actually TRYING?! SIX. HUNDRED. THOUSAND. GOD. DAMNED. POUNDS. That's THREE-HUNDRED TONS.**

 **What does this _mean_? Those are really big numbers but what can he _do_ with them?**

 **Well, a blue whale, which is the largest animal on Earth, weighs an average of 115 Tons.**

 **All Might can dual-wield whales without suffering an attack penalty.**

 **A single-story, unfurnished, 1,600 square-foot American house (bigger than mine I'll tell you that), weighs about 172 Tons.**

 **That's right, All Might could probably _throw your house_ without breaking a sweat.**

 **Now, I'm not completely sure how this level of strength factors into throwing weather-changing punches like the Detroit Smash we see him use against the Sludge Villain. I'm no physics expert. Someone call MatPat or Wiz and Boomstick.**

 **Really, it's probable that these numbers don't entirely add up because, well, Anime Physics. It should at least help to give us an idea of just what these guys are capable of. In conclusion, the strength of 50 men pales in comparison to the strength of 50 All Mights.**

 **FINALLY:**

 **One reviewer suggested the idea of a potential class D &D campaign. Is this something people would be interested in seeing snippets of? Is this something that people _do_? Toss me some fics if there are any that jump out at you as having done this particularly well.**

 **Tell me your thoughts.**

 **As always, thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12: We Are So Screwed

**This is a bit of a breather chapter. It's not as long as the previous few I've posted 'cause I just had one hell of a week. Also, I think it landed on a good stopping point. I will say it went in a direction that I did not anticipate whatsoever and I'll get into that in the post-chapter A/N.**

 **Review time:**

 **wildtrance: Oh for sure. I've played some really good sessions over the years and it can get intense. It seems like a lot of people are supportive of the idea, so we might very well get to see it!**

 **Kirbylover99: I am very happy that you found my fic to be bingeworthy! Thank you! I do try to make everyone still feel like themselves while making enough changes to keep things interesting.**

 **Thinking about how Bakugo and Izuku's relationship would change was one of the things that got me excited about writing this fic in the first place, so I'm glad you enjoy it as well.**

 **Colinpop5: Shadow Birb doesn't get enough love in canon I feel like. I wanted to have some fun with him and really dive into what it might be like to have a sentient Quirk. I'm glad you like him!**

 **OutlawKnight: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the fights. I really do try to do my fight scenes justice. I'll have to decide whether this would be better suited to being an Omake or a full-on spinoff. At the moment I'm leaning towards Omake. That way it can be an ongoing thing that doesn't interfere with the story as a whole, but that I could still reference and treat as canon.**

 **I'll have to look into that D &D crossover stuff. I didn't have much time to read this week, but I will check it out!**

 **The 0bservanc3: Thank you for your continued support. I always appreciate your in-depth reviews, so don't worry about it. I'm happy that you feel like this story is worth taking the time you do to write them.**

 **Recovery Girl don't take no shit from nobody. I enjoyed writing the Infirmary scene, so I'm glad you enjoyed reading it.**

 **I'm going off of the idea that, since Dark Shadow is a part of Tokoyami, that he is affected by Tokoyami's physical, mental and emotional states as well as the overall light/darkness levels of the area, particularly when it comes to maintaining control. This is somewhat supported in canon by the example you brought up of Dark Shadow going berserk after Shoji lost his hand. If it was purely darkness-based, then he would have gone out of control immediately. It was only after Tokoyami was subjected to that emotional shock that his control over Dark Shadow weakened enough for him to take over entirely. I don't know if this means that happiness is anathema to Dark Shadow per-se, but it certainly doesn't make him stronger. I think that, at the very least, Tokoyami has learned to control his emotions well enough that he can bring out Dark Shadow without allowing his emotions to negatively impact the situation except in extreme circumstances, such as what happened with Shoji.**

 **I have not read this fic. I might look into that.**

 **I also enjoyed writing Match 4. For sure Kirishima will be getting some character development down the line. He'll grow and mature along with everyone else. He's still got a bit of that famous "teenage invincibility" complex going on with him, which is especially deep-seated given his Quirk.**

 **That...actually sounds like a good idea. I'll have to ask people what they think. For sure Nevermore rolls off the tongue more nicely than Tsukuyomi, which is just the name of the Shinto moon god. Plus it always reminds me of Itachi when I see it.**

 **I'm glad that the Kirishima vs Ojiro fight had a more brutal feel to it. That was exactly what I was going for. As for Iida vs Tokoyami, things might have been different if he had gotten to use Recipro Burst, but in the end he was outnumbered.**

 **Match 5. I'm glad that people are enjoying Aoyama. He's another character that doesn't get enough love in canon (there's a lot of them, huh?) and I'm having fun with him.**

 **Kaminari is another character who I find to be a bit too one-dimensional in canon. I'm glad you like what I'm doing with him, and I'm nowhere near done yet! I also deliberately have not let the class see him frying his brain yet, so right now his cool-factor is high with them.**

 **Tape ninja indeed. It's a role he's well-suited for.**

 **You bet. I like digging more into the nitty-gritty like that. Interesting idea for Hagakure's development and potential shipping too. That's another thing I'll have to ask for input on.**

 **You can bet that the voting will be different than in canon, and not in the way that I'm sure a lot of people are expecting either. For USJ, I actually have that all planned out already. I did not roll dice for this one, because I had an actual plan for how I wanted it to go down from the get-go, but I did mess with almost every group to some extent so things will still be different. MUCH different. Ripple effect is in...well...effect.**

 **Thank you! You're great too.**

 **RandomDude: First off, I did get your PM and that is a good suggestion. M &M does have a much better thematic fit to it while still being a very role play-heavy game that would be very fun to see in my opinion.**

 **You can never quite be sure about the twinkly ones...**

 **I'm glad I was able to wrap things up nicely. I feel like I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish with this arc, and I'm more than satisfied with it.**

 **I'm also glad that I'm piquing your interest with the side-characters. I feel like they're all interesting in their own ways and deserve more attention than they get in canon, which I am happy to give them.**

 **It's funny you mention Toga...**

 **As for whether to make this a side-story or Omake, I'm actually leaning towards Omake for the reasons I outlined in my response to OutlawKnight above. It'll still be a post-chapter type thing so if people aren't interested in it they can skip it, but it will be canon.**

 **Thank you!**

 **Hektols: I for sure do not want to overlook anyone. I feel like there's more than enough space here to give everyone their turn in the spotlight and I fully intend to do so.**

 **For sure. All Might is canonically stated to be weaker than his prime. How much weaker exactly we don't know, but it's significant. I don't think we can really use his canon Nomu fight as a reference either, because his line about "In my prime three punches would've been enough but today it took three-hundred mighty blows" implies that he is only 1/100 as strong which is just absurd. No way in hell was he 100 times stronger in his prime. He'd be a god at that point.**

 **C. : How did I miss that?! I must've glossed over that part when I was reading it or forgot. Hagakure's Quirk is meta confirmed.**

 **I do think that her invisibility is involuntary though, since she maintains it even while being knocked out during the training camp arc. Also because you would think that with her Quirk being on record, if it wasn't involuntary she would have gotten in trouble by now for always using her Quirk in public.**

 **Dragon's Blaze: Thank you for this. I guess we just have to chalk it up to Anime Physics then since I highly doubt even with his phenomenal speed that he can reach Mach 500. Oh well. Rule of Cool and all that.**

 **Ezylryb: Thank you! I fully intend to.**

 **origamishishou (aka the blasphemer aka honorless bumble XD): No worries man. Their names are super similar. More than once I've caught myself making that typo mid-sentence and having to fix it.**

 **Thank you again. I'm always happy to know that people like my writing style and the characterization I give to people.**

 **I have indeed not read this fic yet and will have to check it out. I am for sure not the writer. This is my first posted fic apart from a thing I got three chapters into and then dumped on fictionpress a long time ago.**

 **I do not think anyone has suggested the fic to me before, but I do think I might have scrolled past it in the recommended fic section on TvTropes before.**

 **Oh, and if you catch any errors or inconsistencies, point 'em out to me. I'm always trying to improve and do proofread my stuff before I post it, but I am of course not perfect.**

 **SillyEmber: This is an interesting thought. I would think that there might be some homebrew to involve Quirks, but they're just so varied and inconsistent that I could easily see it becoming a balance issue. Most likely there would be groups that use them, but they would be outlawed in official campaigns and whatnot (such as LFR or convention play).**

 **I will have to look this fic up. People are giving me good suggestions and I like it! I'm a huge RWBY fan too so I'll check it out.**

 **Thank you so much for this praise. It means a lot to me. For sure the fight scenes are one thing that I really try to do well. I've read stories before that glossed over them or skipped them entirely and that's not to say that these stories aren't still good, many of them are, but I feel like a good fight scene can give you something that you just can't get any other way.**

 **I ended up deciding not to randomize the USJ incident. I DID mess with the groups, but it was done with intent this time. You know something that could be randomized though? Sports Festival tournament. Hell, it's randomized in canon so that'd make sense to do.**

 **I think Kacchan's reaction to that would be something along the lines of "I blow it up." "Kacchan, you can't do that. You're out of range." "So I GET in range and THEN blow it up!" "Kacchan, it's flying." "I can fly too!" "YOU can, but your CHARACTER can't." "My character needs to MAN THE FUCK UP THEN!" *rolls nat 20* "How about THAT, Deku?!" "I...you...god damnit."**

 **I'll have to think about who would be the GM. Someone suggested actually having two groups, one that plays as Heroes and one that plays as Villains and having them occasionally clash, which is an idea I really like.**

 **I'm most likely going to use Mutants and Masterminds as the base, since it fits the theme much better. I'm not sure how much things would have changed in the regard you're referring to. Most likely, given the overall flexible style of the game in the first place, it would be more or less the same, maybe with an added section about implementing your Quirk as a Power within the game's framework.**

 **All right, without further ado, let's kick things off with some more Todoroki!**

* * *

Chapter Twelve: We Are So Screwed

Enji Todoroki's son was perturbed. He could tell because he was even more withdrawn than normal and had neglected to give his father an undue amount of guff when he had asked him about his day while he was fixing himself a snack. There was no glare, no edge to his voice and no turning away; he just answered with a refreshing honesty.

"We had a combat trial. Two-on-two in a Heroes against Villains scenario. My match was a joke." Enji nodded in understanding. He rather doubted that any of his classmates would be a match for Shoto, especially on the first day of lessons.

"Is this the reason why you seem disturbed? I have said many times that you are at a level far above that of the majority of your peers." Shoto shook his head and rested his elbows on the kitchen counter, turning his head to make eye contact with Enji. What the man saw prompted him to give his son his undivided attention:

Shoto was confused. This rarely happened to the point that he let it show, especially to his father of all people.

"You were away yesterday, so I haven't told you yet, but that Midoriya kid is in my class." Enji nodded at this, internally pleased at this development, "I've observed him a bit when I didn't have anything else to do and…" he raised his hands a few inches before letting them thud back onto the counter as though it wasn't worth the effort of holding them up, "…I just don't understand him."

"Could you tell me a bit more about what you mean?" Enji prompted, trying to use a gentle tone while his son was still in a talkative mood. Shoto closed his mismatched eyes for a moment, giving the impression that the upper-left side of his face was a mass of burned flesh. Every time Enji saw that, he felt a pang of regret mixed with anger. Regret that it had happened at all and anger that he had not been there to stop it.

A reminder of one of his greatest failures…forever branded across the face of what he hoped would be his greatest success.

If that wasn't poetic in some way, he didn't know what was.

"I just can't get a read on him." Shoto was evidently done thinking and Enji consciously brought his attention back to the matter at hand, "He hangs around with this other kid, Bakugo, who he seems to have a history with. It's obvious that their relationship has been that of a Hero and Sidekick for a long time; not strictly leader-follower but it's clear who calls the shots." Enji realized that this Bakugo must have been the same boy from the Sludge Villain incident. He vaguely remembered reading that name before as the boy gave an account of how he had tried to combat the Villain prior to the recorded incident.

"But there's…something _else_ about him. He seemed like this meek, bookish type at first but when Bakugo was about to start a shouting match with another student named Iida, Midoriya shut the whole thing down before it could even start and had the two of them apologizing to each other and shaking hands like the whole thing had never happened." Shoto was shaking his head as if he could barely believe it even though he was the one saying it, "As if that's not enough, he and Bakugo have managed to get together a small group after just a day and a half that's made up of a full _half_ of the top ten scorers from the entrance exam practical. Then I decided to ask him what he thought of one of the matchups while we were headed towards the practice grounds…"

Shoto got up off of the counter and stared at his father straight-on.

"He basically started gushing about tactics, Quirk Synergy, field advantages and all sorts of other stuff right on the spot. And it was actually _good_. And people were _listening_ to him like he was some guest speaker or something." his hands were twitching at this point and Enji had the distinct impression that if he had just a little less self-control, then his son would have grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him, "Do you understand what I'm saying? After _just one day_ he's already got a reputation like that with every student in the class. That's _eighteen people_ if you don't count him or Bakugo. Hell, even _All Might_ looked like he was interested in what was going on. And this was all _before_ his match."

Shoto stopped for breath and Enji honestly could not remember the last time he saw his son speak so passionately about something that didn't directly stem from being angry with him. It was one of those times where what his son _hadn't_ said was just as loud as what he _had_ said:

Midoriya had affected _him_ too and he wasn't sure how to feel or what to think, so for once in his life he was acting like a normal teenager and venting. To his father, no less.

Enji was beginning to like this Midoriya just on principle. One single day and he already had his son opening up to him like this? The kid was a miracle-worker based on that alone.

…And did he say "Iida?" As in Ingenium? Another of the special-invitation kids was from the Yaoyorozu conglomerate as well, if he remembered correctly. Just how many high-profile Hero candidates were in this class?

"What happened in his match, Shoto? What did he do?" At this, his son made a hacking sound that could almost have been mistaken for a bark of laughter.

"What did he _do_? Let's see: he started off with a back-and-forth with Bakugo, that's who he was fighting, by the way, that was good enough that it had most of the class laughing and then he floored Bakugo with an improvised Quirk combo with his partner which let her keep heading towards the objective while he waited for Bakugo to get off the floor _so he could fight him properly._ Then, after slugging it out and getting beaten up and down the hallways of the building they were in, Bakugo launched a huge explosion at him _which he ate_ and then the two of them almost took out the whole building when their attacks clashed and caused an even _bigger_ explosion that really could have gotten _both_ of their partners _killed_ if things had gone badly."

Well, damn.

"The hell of it is, I'm not completely convinced that Midoriya didn't have _that_ little stunt planned out just like everything else. He even managed to signal his partner before he let loose. Also, his Quirk damages his body when he uses too much of it. His arm looked broken and he had burns all over it."

Yet another of Enji's deductions that had turned out correctly, it seemed. The boy was indeed _not_ immune to his own fire, or even all that resistant from the sound of it.

"So, there you have it. He's a meek, assertive, nerdy, outgoing, tactical, reckless guy with a really weird charismatic streak to him. He's a walking contradiction if ever there was one." Shoto seemed relieved and a bit tired after having gotten all of that off of his chest.

"Does he seem nice?"

"What?" Shoto clearly had not expected that.

"Midoriya. Does he seem like a nice boy?"

"I…guess? People seem to like him well enough. Everyone was happy when he came back from the nurse's office and said that he was going to be okay."

Enji nodded again, satisfied.

"Thank you for telling me this, Shoto. It has been very informative. I will leave you alone now. Tonight's training will be a bit lighter, I think. You have had a stressful day."

"I can do the usual training." the defiant note was back. Oh well. Progress was progress.

"Very well."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku walked out of the infirmary flexing and stretching his newly-healed arm experimentally. It was a little stiff, but all-in-all it felt back to one-hundred percent. He was glad. Changing and cleaning himself the previous evening had been a chore with only one arm.

Kacchan had come early along with him, grumbling about it the whole time. Izuku had not asked him to, simply telling him that he had to get to campus early for his appointment with Recovery Girl. Nevertheless, there he was when Izuku had passed his house on the way to the station.

Izuku was grateful. It was times like this that showed him that his explosive friend really did care, albeit in his own special way. By the time he made it back to room 1-A, a few more students had trickled in. Some expressed interest in his injuries and he spent the remainder of the time until class started assuring various people that he was fine and making small-talk.

Aizawa entered the classroom looking slightly more annoyed than usual, probably a result of having to deal with the media that had been clustered outside of U.A.'s main gates ever since Sunday, when the public announcement that All Might would be teaching there was made. He had heard his classmates discussing them, with some being excited about being on camera and others annoyed. They had attempted to accost Izuku and Katsuki on their way in and get a statement from them as well, but Izuku had excused himself by saying he was due at the nurse's office and Katsuki had indicated that he was with him. They let them go without further difficulty, since it was a well-known fact that there were two people at any given institution that you did _not_ mess with under any circumstances: the nurse and the janitor.

…Actually, who _was_ the U.A. janitor? Robots probably helped out, but there had to be _someone_ who was in charge of it, right? A question for later, as Aizawa was going over everyone's grades from yesterday's combat session.

"All-in-all, good work yesterday. All Might had good things to say about every single one of you, even if the quantity varied from person to person. One or two of you," here he gave Izuku and Katsuki the evil eye, "might need to learn a thing or two about restraint, but I think your injuries and fridge horror at your subsequent near-misses should be effective teachers in this instance. Do your best to prove me right and we'll move on, okay?" Izuku nodded frantically and Katsuki let out a "got it" from in front of him, "You all have potential assuming you can overcome your shortcomings. You proved that with your performances yesterday. Also…" here he looked at Izuku, Katsuki, Ochako and Mezzo in particular, "…Present Mic might want to have a word with you four later. Something about consent for a video he wants to post."

Aizawa let out a long-suffering sigh at the thought of his boisterous co-worker and then continued.

"Anyway, to business. Sorry about bringing this up so suddenly but you all need to pick a Class President today."

The classroom immediately exploded into a flurry of activity with everyone stating their desires to take the leadership position. At a Hero Academy such as theirs, the position was considered to be good practice in leading a group, which was something that many top-tier Heroes had to do. Even Izuku had some interest in the position from a purely hypothetical standpoint, though he doubted he'd be any good at it in reality.

"Everybody quiet down!" Tenya's voice suddenly boomed out over the cacophony and silence immediately followed. He adjusted his glasses and continued at a lower volume though his intensity was unchanged, "Such a position should not be sought out lightly, nor should it be given lightly! Ambition does not equate to ability with things like this! The office of Class President is a sacred one that demands the trust of those one is to lead, else you are only inviting disaster!"

"No shit, Glasses, but what are you suggesting then?" Katsuki had turned ninety degrees in his chair to properly look at Iida, who was on the other side of the room and two rows back.

"I believe we should hold an election and let popular opinion carry the day."

"Iida-san, ribbit." Tsuyu, who sat directly in front of Tenya, voiced her concerns, "I don't object to that idea, but we haven't known each other for very long. That kind of trust just hasn't had time to develop yet."

"Yeah," Mineta piped up, "won't everyone just vote for themselves then? I know that's what I'd do. I mean, who even has the kind of pull to secure multiple votes at this stage?"

"I dunno, man," Eijiro looked thoughtful, "I can think of two or three that might have a chance…"

"I thought of that," Iida responded, "and that is why I believe we should have a preliminary round of nominations. Everyone who gets more than one vote will be a nominee. This will then be followed by another round of voting where the nominees are the only options. This should prevent everyone from simply voting for themselves if they realize that they have no chance in the nomination round. Hopefully we can all be self-aware enough to realize what we are well-suited for. This too is an important quality for Heroes to have, don't you think?"

The class in general seemed to agree. Iida nodded his thanks and then turned to Aizawa, who was already zipping himself back up into the sleeping bag they had all first seen him in.

"Sensei, is this acceptable to you?" Aizawa gave him a deadpan look.

"As long as you have a President and Vice President selected before class is over, I don't care what you do."

With that, scraps of paper were passed out and the first round of voting was quickly concluded. For his part, Izuku voted for Iida. He just seemed like he would be really good at the job with his ability to get everyone's attention like that. Plus, Izuku was pretty sure he wouldn't abuse his power either.

As nomination votes were tallied, names started to appear on the board as Tenya took it upon himself to transcribe the results, since it was his idea. Izuku couldn't see that well since Tenya was standing in the way, but when he crossed out six names, Izuku realized that he must be nearly done.

 _Those six must have been people with only one nomination. I hope they don't take it too hard…_

"With the first round of voting concluded, it would appear that we have five presidential candidates!" Iida stepped to one side and extended an arm to present the board to the class.

Yuga Aoyama – I

Shoto Todoriki – I

Izuku Midoriya – III

Tenya Iida – III

Denki Kaminari – III

Katsuki Bakugo – II

Tsuyu Asui – I

Momo Yaoyorozu – III

Ochako Uraraka – I

Minoru Mineta – I

Tooru Hagakure – I

 _Oh, dear god no._

Izuku rubbed his eyes hurriedly and then looked at the board again, praying that he was hallucinating but his name was still there with three tally marks next to it.

 _Three? THREE people voted for me?! I don't even want the job! It was just a thought exercise!_

As Tenya erased the board and re-wrote the names of the five nominees in a neater fashion, Izuku looked around the classroom in a desperate attempt to calm down.

Kacchan was scowling, probably because he had the fewest votes of any nominee.

Kaminari was getting a high-five from Sero while Jiro was pointedly looking in another direction.

Ashido looked disappointed for some reason, which Izuku thought was odd since she had zero votes, meaning she didn't nominate herself.

Uraraka was waving and giving him a thumbs-up. Oh. Well, that explained one of the votes. He wanted to signal her in some way that he didn't want the job but she looked so excited that he couldn't bring himself to say anything. Two chairs in front of her, Asui cocked her head and gave him her unique smile. Her one vote must have been from someone else if she had voted for him. Who was the third? Not Kacchan, surely. He wanted the job badly enough to vote for himself. It was then that Izuku caught Iida looking at him from the front of the room. When they made eye contact, Iida gave a respectful nod.

 _But HE wants the job! I_ want _him to have the job! Why would he vote for_ me _?! Iida-san, WHY?!_

The next round of votes was taken. The totals would be higher this time, courtesy of there only being five candidates.

"Yo, Iida, read the votes out loud this time! It'll make it more exciting!" Kaminari suggested.

"Hey, yeah! That's a good idea!" Sero agreed. Iida looked taken aback for a moment before nodding.

"If that is what you would like, then so be it. This is a momentous occasion after all."

He then started reading them off, one at a time, adding tally marks as he went.

"Kaminari. Yaoyorozu. Iida. Midoriya. Midoriya. Midoriya."

 _Oh god why._

"Kaminari. Bakugo. Bakugo. Kaminari. Midoriya."

He was still in the lead. WHY WAS HE STILL IN THE LEAD?! WHAT WAS GOING ON?!

"Bakugo. Kaminari. Iida. Yaoyorozu. Yaoyorozu. Bakugo. Iida. Yaoyorozu."

It was a four-way tie between himself, Kacchan, Yaoyorozu and Kaminari. If the last vote was for Iida, then it would be a five-way tie.

"Kaminari."

"WHAT?!" Bakugo voiced what several of them were probably thinking, Izuku included. This had come completely out of nowhere.

Izuku Midoriya – IIII

Tenya Iida – III

Denki Kaminari – IIIII

Katsuki Bakugo – IIII

Momo Yaoyorozu – IIII

"These results clearly state that Kaminari-san is to be Class President of 1-A!" Iida gestured to the newly-elected Class President, who appeared to be dumbstruck at the moment. When he realized that everyone was looking at him, he flashed a grin and a peace sign to everyone.

"However," Iida continued, "Due to a three-way tie for second place, we will have to conduct another vote to determine the Vice President."

 _Why can't this just be over? I just want this to be over._

Tenya again erased the board, writing the names of the three Vice President candidates. This time, as Iida was no longer an option, Izuku voted for Yaoyorozu.

 _As much as I like Kacchan, I don't think he has the right temperament for this job. Not yet. Yaoyorozu-san seems like a responsible, sensible girl. I'm sure she'll help keep Kaminari-san on track._

The votes all cast, Iida began to read again.

"Midoriya. Yaoyorozu. Midoriya. Midoriya. Midoriya. Midoriya."

Izuku's mouth was hanging open. Why did the universe hate him so much?

"Midoriya. Bakugo. Yaoyorozu. Bakugo. Bakugo."

Okay, maybe things wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he wouldn't get any more votes? Maybe they were just all at the top? That sort of thing happened sometimes, right?

"Bakugo. Yaoyorozu. Yaoyorozu. Yaoyorozu. Bakugo."

Okay. He was still in the lead with six votes but Kacchan and Yaoyorozu were tied with five each. This wasn't the end yet.

"Yaoyorozu. Yaoyorozu. Midoriya."

 _Son of a bitch! I_ know _that was you, Iida-san!_

A seven-seven tie with Yaoyorozu. Once again, the last vote would determine everything. Tenya realized this as well, as he carefully lifted the piece of folded paper from the box and unfolded it before uttering the name that would forever seal Izuku's fate. For a year anyway.

"Midoriya."

 _FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!_

"Close. Very close. Yet the numbers are clear! The Vice President of Class 1-A will be Midoriya-san!" Iida dashed any hopes that he was hallucinating with that damning statement.

Before long, Izuku found himself standing next to the front of the room next to Kaminari, who was giving the class a dual peace sign with his arms raised, confident grin still in place.

"Hey guys! Thanks a ton for the literal votes of confidence! I super appreciate this!" there was some polite applause before he continued, "For real though, I'm gonna do my best to be a good Class Prez for you all. Honestly, I think it's a good thing that Midoriya here was voted as my V.P.: he can help me out with stuff that I might not completely understand. I think we all know he's smarter than me, after all!" he chuckled at his self-deprecating joke and a good portion of the class joined in. Kaminari then clapped his left hand onto Izuku's shoulder, "C'mon, buddy! Give 'em a wave! They wanted you up here, after all. Heck, you got more votes than I did in the end!"

Izuku tried to give a steady grin, but knew he still looked nervous. He did manage a small wave though, which prompted another round of applause.

"On that note," Kaminari continued after the applause was done, "I'd like to take Midoriya aside for a moment to discuss some important Class-Rep stuff, if that's alright, Sensei?"

"I don't care. I planned on this taking the whole period, so make a study hall out of it or something. I'm having a nap. You do that too if you want."

Denki then shoved Izuku out of the room and into the first empty classroom they found before promptly shutting the door.

Izuku found himself thinking that this might actually be a good opportunity to come clean. He could tell Kaminari that he never actually wanted this position, that it was a huge mistake, and that he should take Yaoyorozu as his Vice President. Yes. That was what he would do.

At least, that was his plan until he was spun around and found himself face-to-face with a decidedly not-calm Denki Kaminari.

"Midoriya! Dude!" he had grabbed Izuku's shoulders and was shaking him slightly, "You gotta help me, man! I didn't expect to actually _win_! I have no idea what I'm doing! That's why I voted for you as my V.P.! You gotta help me, please!"

This was just too much. Izuku found himself grabbing Kaminari's shoulders in return.

"You think _that's_ bad?! I didn't want the job _at all_! I didn't even vote for myself! Why did this happen?!"

"Dude! We are so screwed!"

"I know!"

They spent a few moments sharing their pain before Kaminari made a visible effort to pull himself together.

"Okay…okay. We just need to be cool. Stay cool. We can work this out."

"Do you think we should just give the jobs to someone else?" to Izuku's surprise, Denki shook his head, a solemn expression on his face.

"I thought of that too, but I don't think we can. At least, I don't think we _should_."

"But _why?_ Neither one of us wants the job!" Izuku was trying very hard to understand, but he just couldn't. He was even more confused when Denki gave him a confused look in return, like he expected him to already know the answer.

"I mean, you said it just yesterday, didn't you? Being Heroes isn't just about what _we_ want. It's about serving and protecting the people. Our people _want_ us to lead them, for whatever goddamn reason, and I don't think it'd be fair for us to just spit on their desires like that. It'd be the same as telling them they don't know what they're talking about, you know?" he extended a hand to Izuku with a resigned smile on his face, "I think we owe it to them to at least _try_. They have faith in us, so let's try having a little faith in ourselves, yeah? If we screw the pooch, _then_ at least we'll have an excuse to step down."

It was then that Izuku thought he caught a glimpse of the real Denki Kaminari. Beneath all of the confidence and cool-dude stuff, he was just another guy trying to find his feet. He wanted to be a Hero just like everyone else did and behind closed doors, when he took a moment to just _breathe_ , he was every bit as nervous and scared as they all were. He put up a façade in the hopes that, one day, he could become the mask he wore.

It must have been working because at that moment, Izuku honestly thought he was really cool.

"Okay," he took Denki's hand with his own, "I'm with you, President Kaminari. Let's do our best together!"

"Yeah." Kaminari then pulled him into a one-armed bro hug and clapped him on the back twice before parting, "Thanks, Midoriya. I really do think that with your help we can make this work."

In spite of himself, Izuku found himself agreeing.

Maybe this was what people meant when they talked about leadership?

* * *

 **That went in a direction that I was not prepared for. Let me explain how it got there:**

 **So for the votes I actually got myself some paper and wrote down each student's name along with who they voted for. This was easy for some, and harder for others. A few notable ones were Denki voting for himself in the nominations and initial presidential vote, but then voting for Izuku in the second round. Shoji actually nominated Ochako, then voted for Bakugo, then changed his tune to Momo after deciding that Bakugo wouldn't work well with Denki. Tokoyami nominated and voted for Tenya, but then when he wasn't an option anymore he voted for Izuku.**

 **Tsuyu's one nomination actually came from Koda, who then switched his vote to Izuku because he was the least intimidating. Aoyama, being the mastermind that he is, nominated himself, then voted for Denki in the initial vote, followed by Izuku in the second round.**

 **Oh, and the reason Mina was disappointed was because she nominated Todoroki since "he's the hottest guy in class." She changed to Momo afterwards. If there's anyone else you want to know the voting results for, let me know. Those are just the ones I personally found the most interesting.**

 **Now for two questions I have for you guys:**

 **First, a reviewer suggested that I change Tokoyami's Hero Name to Nevermore given the Edgar Allen Poe reference that Dark Shadow made last chapter. I personally am a fan of this idea since I think it rolls off the tongue more nicely than Tsukuyomi (which always makes me think of Itachi). Let me know what you guys think**

 **As an extension of this question, are there any other Hero Names you guys would like to see changed? I'm open to suggestions. Deku will obviously stay Deku for obvious reasons which are obvious.**

 **Secondly, shipping. Most people have guessed my primary ship by now, and I do have a couple of ideas for others, but I'm interested in what you all have to say on the subject. Obviously, shipping is subjective in nature and I won't be able to honor everyone's requests, but I do want to know what you think.**

 **So, lemme have it. Who would you pair off and why?**

 **Next time we're getting into the start of USJ!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13: Evil Unleashed

**Another slightly shorter chapter, though still longer than Twelve. I think the next chapter should be longer, especially since I have a four-day weekend coming up. Also, someone brought up the length of the Author's Notes, and I have to admit that they are getting longer. I will try to be more concise with these from now on. Thank you for your continued feedback!**

 **Review Time:**

 **Remnant's Sage: It was originally going to be Momo in the VP position, but then I thought of this scene and just had to make it Izuku. I'm glad I did.**

 **Ezylryb: Thank you! I certainly will. As far as shipping, we have a chunk of time coming up soon that isn't accounted for in canon. Seems like good fodder for all kinds of shenanigans, no?**

 **ScarletCatnip: Enji tries, for sure. He does legitimately care for Shoto, even if he has ulterior motives. I can totally see Iida doing things like that. One or two might even be in this chapter.**

 **Johnny Spectre: Thank you for chiming in on the shipping question! I'll take this into account.**

 **Colinpop5: Thank you. I intend to keep going with it.**

 **jaciro500: This is a good point. I will take it into account.**

 **wildtrance: You mean where they're really close just not in a romantic way? If so, then definitely. I seriously think I'm going to go with Nevermore at this point. It's getting a lot of support.**

 **BlackDragonFish: You bet I will! Them not doing much in canon just means I have that much more freedom with them.**

 **NPGamer11: That would be an interesting one, for sure.**

 **Hektols: Shoto knows something is up for sure. Knowing Denki, probably a bit of both. Luckily he has Izuku.**

 **Stetsonbennnett: Thank you for chiming in on the Hero Names! I'll take these into account.**

 **zZ Sky Ninja Zz: Interesting idea, for sure. I'll have to consider it.**

 **The 0bservanc3: Sunday does usually end up being the day doesn't it? Guess I'm shaking things up a bit. I just kinda post it when it's done XD.**

 **Enji has some developing to do for sure. I'm glad you like his screentime though! I enjoy writing him. The parallels between Shoto/Izuku and Enji/All Might weren't something I fully realized until you pointed it out, but holy crap I did do that didn't I? XD**

 **Izuku's immunity to fire currently extends to his insides and his lips, basically. IMO, that's all you'd really need to breathe fire as long as you didn't breathe it onto yourself. Good question though.**

 **I'm glad you liked the election. To me that's really all it was: just common sense. As for Jiro, same reason she was embarrassed when she admitted to Denki being cool at the Battle Trial. As for the subject of the traitor, that should be at least partially addressed by the time we reach the end of the USJ arc.**

 **Thank you for your input on the ships and names! It's all great! I would assume that Sato's Quirk only really works with genuine sugar, yes.**

 **I hope USJ lives up to your expectations!**

 **bigdogneversleeps: Thank you. I will try to make them more concise. I'm glad you are enjoying it and thank you for the shipping feedback.**

 **Twain apprentice: I hope you like what I did with it!**

 **RandomDude: I'm glad you liked it. It did feel like a bit of a breather to me, but I'm happy with it overall.**

 **I enjoy writing my Enji/Shoto scenes. I am looking forward to showing their first meeting as well. Heck, there's a lot that I'm looking forward to on that front, but all good time. I can confirm that Yagi is not the janitor. Not 100% sure on who it is atm but the suggestion about being a friend of Nezu is an interesting one.**

 **I don't remember who suggested it either, but this is part of why I like reading my comments so much. You guys have good ideas and I like incorporating them especially when, like you said, it doesn't take any real effort and makes sense. Why _wouldn't_ Yamada want to post that? It's good shit. Don't worry, you don't come off as entitled or demanding or anything of the sort.**

 **I'm happy that you enjoyed the voting and subsequent results. I agree that it will add more to the social aspect of things. Thank you again!**

 **Guest: Thank you! If Monoma tries starting something with Deku, Kacchan would certainly have something to say about it. I hope this lives up to your expectations!**

 **Kerksagog: Thank you for the feedback on Hero Names! I actually have some really cool (IMO) plans for Izuku's final costume. I'm not sure if I've hinted at them yet or not.**

 **otakuficwriter: Thank you for the feedback on Hero Names and shipping! I can see the validity of both ships, but it will soon become obvious which one this story is using.**

 **There, that wasn't too long. Now for lucky number Thirteen!**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Evil Unleashed

Izuku Midoriya was hungry. Freaking out over suddenly being made the Class Vice-President could do that. Go figure. Good thing it was lunch time. He was sitting at the same small table as the previous day, along with Katsuki, Ochako, Tenya and Eijiro. They had taken the opportunity to congratulate him on his election.

Well, except for Kacchan. He was still a little salty about being the nominee with the fewest votes.

"Still, you were _so_ close, Deku-kun! You were almost President! _President_!" Uraraka was more than making up for his lack of enthusiasm, however.

"Actually," Izuku set his chopsticks down for a moment. His noodles could wait until he had said this, "I have a confession to make."

All eyes were immediately on him. He gulped and took a steadying breath.

"The thing is…I didn't even want the job. I didn't nominate myself or vote for myself. I was honestly about to give the position to someone else, but Kaminari-san and I had a talk and I've decided to give it a try. Still doesn't change the fact that I think someone else would have been better."

"Nonsense," Iida responded almost immediately before taking a moment to wash his curry down with some orange juice, "you have grit and the ability to act decisively in tight situations. You are also intelligent and have a firm grasp of logic and tactics. And let us not forget the most important thing," he then made a small motion with his glass to emphasize his next point, "people listen when you talk. When you are in your element, you have a certain charisma about you that simply cannot be ignored. All of these factors make you perfectly suited to be a leader in my eyes. That is why I voted for you."

Izuku couldn't help but feel that Tenya was praising him too much.

"Let me make one thing clear: the only reason I'm willing to do this is because I'm the _Vice_ -President. If I had somehow won the whole thing, I'd be giving this position to someone else. Probably you, Iida-san. I did vote for you, after all."

Iida went slightly pink at being so bluntly told that the Vice-President considered him to be the best man for the top job.

"Didn't you want to be the Class President too, Iida-san?" Uraraka inquired, "I mean, you've got glasses and everything! You seem really suited for the position." Iida took another sip of his orange juice, as though it would help cool his head.

"I stand by what I said before: ambition does not equate to ability. I humbly made the decision that I deemed to be correct."

"Whoa," Kirishima was looking at Iida like he had grown a second head, "he only said two sentences but I feel like he just quoted Shakespeare at me."

"Okay, since you're being this obvious about it now," Katsuki decided to contribute to the conversation, "I'm gonna ask flat-out. You've got an overdeveloped sense of decorum, you talk differently than anyone I've ever met and you went to freaking _Somei_ _Private Academy_. You're a rich kid, right?"

"Darn!" Ochako's hand smacked the table, "I was just about to ask him that!"

Izuku and Eijiro, meanwhile, were speechless. Neither had considered it, but it just made too much sense now that it had been said.

Iida was shoveling curry and rice into his mouth while he debated how to respond. Finally, he could put it off no longer.

"This is not something I like to tout, so I typically try to hide it…but yes. Mine is a renowned Hero Family of which I am the second son."

"Dude!" Kirishima shook Iida's shoulder, "That's so cool! You've got a whole family of Heroes to look up to! Who are they? Anyone we'd know?"

"Well, have any of you heard of the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?"

"Ah!" this was, of course, Izuku's time to shine, "Of course I know him! He employs sixty-five Sidekicks at his office in Tokyo! He's young too, so that must mean-!"

"Yes," a smile of pride found its way onto Tenya's face, "he is my elder brother. He leads the people with an unwavering adherence to rules and regulations, making him a truly beloved Hero! I've always admired him for as long as I can remember. In the end, you could say that my admiration for _him_ moreso than anyone else was what inspired me to become a Hero. Although," here Tenya gave a self-deprecating chuckle, "I fully realize that I am not yet ready to lead anyone. As the superior candidate, it was only right that the role should go to someone like you, Midoriya-san! Besides, there is always next year."

While Eijiro shook Tenya some more and started going on about how manly he was being, Izuku was absorbed in thought.

 _Ingenium…Just like I have All Might, you have him, huh, Iida-san? I feel like I understand you a little better now._

* _ **VREEEEE-**_ *

Izuku was abruptly jolted out of his reverie by a piercing noise that emanated from the P.A. system. Presumably an alarm of some sort.

" _Level three security has been breached. All students, please evacuate in an orderly fashion."_

"Level three?! No way!" an older boy who was sitting nearby exclaimed as he shot out of his chair to join the throng of students already making their way out of the cafeteria.

"What does level three mean?" Iida asked.

"It means someone's infiltrated the building! In the three years I've been here, this has never happened! You all need to hurry up and get outta here!" the whole time, the older student had not stopped moving.

It was pandemonium. As soon as the crush of people realized that they couldn't all fit through the hall at once, people started to push and shove and try to force their way through. Everyone was apparently ignoring the "orderly" part of the instructions. Their rapid-response instincts were working against them. Everyone was rapidly working themselves into a panic and nobody knew why.

As Tenya found himself forced up against a window, he saw a cluster of bodies with cameras and microphones.

It was the media. Just the media. They shouldn't have been able to get past the main gates, let alone any other security measures, but it was still just the media. He saw Present Mic and Eraserhead already confronting them, though he could not hear what was being said.

"Everyone, it's alr-*oof*!" he couldn't get any words out and the commotion was so great that nobody was paying him any attention.

 _Nobody knows! There is no cause for alarm, yet they've all just been consumed by panic! I have to do something!_

"Iida-san!" a voice suddenly sounded from the ceiling. Iida managed to flip himself around so his back was to the window and he saw Uraraka and Midoriya. Her arms were around his waist as he clung to the ceiling. She must have used her Quirk to get them both clear of the mob. Smart, but it wouldn't solve their problem…

 _Think! Come on, think! Midoriya is preoccupied with holding on to the ceiling, so I can't rely on him right now! What would he or my brother do?!_

"Uraraka-san! Midoriya-san! I have a plan! Come to me!" he saw Uraraka tense up as she activated her Quirk again before Izuku kicked off of the ceiling to float the pair towards him. As they approached, Iida shouted his plan to them. It was slapped-together and simplistic, but it was the best he could do given the precious seconds he had.

As the pair drew level with him, Uraraka deactivated her Quirk, causing them to drop on top of him. He immediately felt himself become weightless as she used Zero Gravity on him. He then felt a pair of hands ball themselves up in his shirt and jacket just before Midoriya leapt into the air and threw him straight at the exit.

* **CRASH** *

Or rather, the section of wall immediately _above_ the exit. That had hurt quite a bit more than Tenya had been prepared for, but he still managed to right himself by clinging to a section of piping and propping his feet on the large exit sign.

"EVERYONE!" _short, concise, and to the point,_ "EVERYTHING IS FINE!"

His booming voice managed to stop the front portion of students, but the rest hadn't heard him and were still trying to push through. It hadn't been enough! Damn it!

* **KABOOM** *

An explosion emanated from the middle of the mob, accompanied by a very familiar shout.

"EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

That did the trick. He had a moment of silence and needed to capitalize on it.

"It's just the Press!" Tenya shouted, praying that this would be enough to restore order, "There is nothing to panic about! Everything is fine! This is U.A.! Behave in a way that is befitting of this great institution!"

"You bunch of dipshits! Running around screaming like civvies, what the actual fuck?!" down the line, Bakugo was echoing his words while putting his own spin on things. Clearly, he had picked up on what Tenya was trying to do, "It's the fucking media! Pull your heads out of your asses and look out a fucking window!"

…Did he really need to be so crude?

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Nezu stood in front the institution's destroyed front gate.

 _His_ institution. _His_ gate.

Behind him stood three members of his trusted faculty: Recovery Girl, Thirteen and Midnight. Eraserhead and Blood King were busy with their respective first-years, Present Mic was overseeing the Press as they were being escorted off-campus by police, Cementoss and Power Loader were on repair-duty, Hound Dog and Ectoplasm had teamed up to comb the grounds and see if they could find any clues with Snipe on the roof ready to pull the trigger if they found anything.

And All Might was _sitting his ass down in the teacher's lounge and **not giving him any sass right now**_.

"Principal," Thirteen began, their voice distorted by the spacesuit they always wore, "what do you believe happened? Besides the obvious." they gestured towards the ruined security gate.

The reinforced, concrete security gate that was _four layers thick_ and currently resembled nothing so much as a pile of rubble and dust.

The obvious indeed.

"It was a level three security breach." Nezu began, running a digit over the ragged scar on the right side of his face, "That means there was at least one intruder in the building itself."

"That's right." Midnight confirmed, resting one hand on her cocked hip, clearly restless, "Why bring that up though?"

"No ordinary member of the mass media could have destroyed this gate." Nezu stated with an absolute certainty that brooked no argument, "Additionally, no Hero _would_. Therefore, we can only conclude it was a Villain."

"Nezu," Recovery Girl verbally prodded, "I can only assume you are going somewhere with this. I know you like your theatrics, but now is not the time. Please get to the point."

That Chiyo. Always having to spoil his fun. Now of all times when he actually _needed_ it.

He might not look it on the outside, but Nezu was actually quite furious.

"Very well then." he turned to look directly at his three faculty members, "Eraserhead and Present Mic were the first responders. They made it to the gate just as the media was passing through the courtyard. They both verified that not a single member of the media made it inside the building. So tell me, who exactly triggered the level three security breach?"

Dumbfounded silence was all that met his inquiry.

"Breaching the gates is a level one flag and notifies the faculty. Passing through the courtyard is level two and notifies the faculty again. Level three is only triggered when someone without U.A. identification of some sort enters the building itself. It is then and _only_ then that a P.A. announcement is made. All students were on time today, so it wasn't someone forgetting their ID. It wasn't a faculty member because _you all know better_. It wasn't a member of the media because none of them actually got in." Nezu made a sweeping gesture with his arms, "So, who _was_ it? And what did they _do_?"

Nezu's composure was beginning to crack. He started to pace.

"I refuse to believe that a Villain who was both powerful enough _and_ had the stones to breach U.A.'s security would do so for no reason. They had a goal in mind and with none of us so much as knowing _who they are_ , we can only assume that they _succeeded_. So here is what is going to happen:" Nezu stopped dead in his tracks to emphasize his next statement, "You are all going to keep this quiet. Review security records when you have a spare moment but do _not_ let the students in on this. Until we know precisely what we are dealing with, there is no reason to cause a panic. Thirteen." the spacesuit-wearing Hero straightened up.

"Yes, sir?"

"We are continuing with the Unforeseen Simulation Joint exercises tomorrow as originally planned, but you will have additional security in the form of Eraserhead. I trust that will not be a problem?"

"Not at all, sir. I would welcome the additional supervision, actually. All Might is a wonderful Hero but he can be kind of…well…" Thirteen trailed off.

"Fufufu," Midnight chuckled, "Eraser's not going to be happy about that. He was probably planning on sleeping the whole time."

"He can _deal_ with it." heavens knew Nezu was going to have to. He was going to have to get a gag order out to every major media outlet within a hundred miles before it became common knowledge that U.A.'s security had been breached.

After all, even the best defenses are only impenetrable if people _believe_ them to be so.

Perhaps he could enlist All Might's help for that? He had friends in law enforcement thanks to his illustrious career. That and it would give him something to do instead of just chomping at the bit.

Then, after all of that was done, he would have to think long and hard about how to retaliate once they found out who was behind this.

Because you _did not_ fuck with his school.

...And poor Yamada had been so excited to get that video posted too. Oh well. It wasn't going anywhere.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Rescue Training. Those two words had thrown the class into almost as much of a tizzy as "Combat Training" had just two days prior. Ochako Uraraka was no exception.

When they were told that they were essentially going on a field trip as well (even if it _was_ still technically on campus), the excitement only mounted. After everyone had changed into their Hero Costumes (except for Deku, who said that his was still being repaired), Kaminari and Deku had, at Iida's prompting, supervised the lineup of students getting on the bus, only to find that half of it was set up like a subway with seats on either side facing inwards, rendering the lineup pointless.

Iida was currently sulking while Ashido patted him on the shoulder. Deku had ended up in between Asui and Sato, with Kirishima taking up the fourth seat in that row. Asui had just corrected Deku on her name again, insisting that he call her "Tsuyu." She had done that with a few students at this point, actually, Ochako being one of them. She seemed like the type who was quick to make friends with people she liked, which suited the social butterfly Ashido just fine. The two got along like a house on fire.

"Midoriya-san, your Quirk is weird, ribbit."

Speaking of fire…

"W-what do you m-mean, Asu- er, Tsuyu-san?" Deku really was easily flustered when it came to being social with people outside of their circle. It had only been a few days though. Ochako was sure he'd grow out of it. In the meantime, it was kind of cute.

"It almost seems like someone took two different Quirks and smushed them together. Like All Might and Endeavor had a baby or something." Tsuyu really wasn't kidding when she said she tended to speak her mind.

A strangled choking sound came from the back of the bus.

"Oi, Half-and-Half, you dying or something?"

"I'm * **cough** * fine." Todoroki must have inhaled some spit or something. Ochako hated when that happened.

"Now hold up, Tsuyu-chan," Kirishima was another one who took to Tsuyu's casual tendencies well, "He doesn't have anywhere near as much strength as All Might unless he fuels up first and who ever heard of Endeavor burning himself with his own fire? They're totally different. Still though," here he leaned forward a bit so he could see Midoriya around Tsuyu, "having that sort of passive enhancement that you can crank up if you need to is still awesome! You can do a whole lot of cool stuff with it. Compared to a big, flashy Quirk like that, my Hardening really isn't anything to write home about."

"I disagree, Kirishima-san!" there was that sparkle that Deku got in his eyes when he started talking about Quirks or Heroes, "I think Hardening is a really good Quirk for Hero work! A lot of times, strength and durability are all you need, especially in a fight against Villains! It's more than enough to go Pro with!"

"Excuses-moi," Aoyama interjected from his seat in between Ashido and Kaminari where he was resting his elbows on his knees, hands propping up his head, "you must not forget that Pro Heroes also have to worry about popular appeal! A certain degree of flashiness could almost be considered necessary, oui? In that way, you could say that my Navel Laser, being both powerful and flashy, would be the perfect Quirk for a Pro."

"Yeah," Ashido rested her free hand on his shoulder, "as long as you don't blow up your own stomach or something! If we're talking strong and cool, that'd have to be Todoroki and Bakugo, right? I bet if Todoroki smiled he'd make the Top Ten just on looks alone!"

" _I'm_ handsome!" Bakugo apparently took exception to the implications.

"Yeah, but your personality needs work, ribbit."

"You want some of this, Frog-Face?!"

"Not especially. Like I said, personality needs work."

"Yeah," Kaminari was up to bat next, "maybe try learning everyone's names first, Bakugo. I think you're the only one who hasn't yet. Unless you're trying to be funny or something, but if you are then your sense of humor is about as appealing as a steamed turd."

"BITCH I'M HILARIOUS!"

"Well," Yaoyorozu said from next to Ochako, "this conversation turned vulgar in a hurry."

Ochako, for her part, was laughing it up with everyone else. Seeing the alpha-male Bakugo getting a good-natured roasting was hilarious, especially since she knew he wasn't really _that_ bad once you got to know him somewhat.

After a few more insults were traded, Aizawa told everyone that they had arrived and everyone snapped to attention immediately.

As they filed off of the bus and came face-to-face with an incredibly massive domed structure that had a large sign in front of it that read "USJ," Ochako suddenly had an idea of who the mystery teacher for today's lesson was.

After all, she was a huge fan.

Sure enough, they were greeted just inside by an individual wearing a large spacesuit with two large, white eyes painted on the helmet.

The Space Hero, Thirteen. They began speaking and gesturing around the enclosure, indicating the several different large-scale disaster zones contained within.

"We have the Flood Zone, Landslide Zone, Mountain Zone, Ruins Zone, Conflagration Zone, and the Downpour Zone. Almost any incident you can imagine can be replicated in this facility that I constructed myself: the Unforeseen Simulation Joint! Or USJ for Short!"

Deku immediately started spouting off trivia about Thirteen from where he stood next to Ochako, talking about how they were a pacifist Hero who did their best work in rescue scenarios.

Ochako, meanwhile, was fangirling. She almost missed it when Aizawa asked Thirteen where All Might was.

That got her thinking. Aizawa _had_ mentioned that All Might would be joining them, along with the mystery person who turned out to be Thirteen. She couldn't hear Thirteen's response, since they had leaned in close to whisper, holding up three fingers as they did so. She had no idea what that meant, but Deku suddenly stopped his exposition and Aizawa looked more irritated than usual.

"That's the height of irrationality. Well, whatever, let's get started." Aizawa turned to face the students, but before he could say more, Thirteen held up a hand.

"Actually, before that, I have something I'd like to say." Aizawa stepped to one side, giving them the floor.

"As some of you may already know, my Quirk is called Black Hole. It can suck in and tear apart anything if I focus it hard enough."

"Yeah! And you've used it to save people from all sorts of disasters!" Deku just couldn't help himself, it seemed.

Ochako wasn't much better, nodding her head so vigorously it might have looked like she had some sort of tic. Thirteen continued, their tone somber.

"Indeed, but mine is also a power that could very easily kill. I'm sure that there are at least a few among you that have similar powers in that regard. It might seem that our system of restricting and monitoring the usage of Quirks in modern society is a stable one, but we must never forget that it only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable Quirk for people to die."

The students were all silent and staring. Thirteen nodded slightly, acknowledging that they understood the seriousness of this mini-lecture.

"During Aizawa's Quirk Assessment, you found out how far your current strengths can go and through All Might's Battle Training, you experienced the danger that your Quirks can pose to others. But I think it's important that you learn a different perspective as well!" they spread their arms in a wide, welcoming fashion, "Today, in this class, you will learn how you can use your Quirks to save lives. I firmly believe that our powers are not meant to inflict harm, but to _help_ people. It is my sincere hope that you leave here today with this understanding." Thirteen then bowed to the class, "That is all. Thank you for listening."

The class broke into applause, having been touched by Thirteen's speech. Ochako in particular was raring to go after that. Thirteen really did embody everything she wanted to be in a Hero.

"Alright, now first off…" Aizawa trailed off mid-sentence, something in the plaza below apparently having caught his eye.

"Huddle up and don't move! Thirteen! Protect the students!"

With a sound like an over-sized zipper being undone, a massive black tear opened up in the center of the plaza and a stream of figures emerged from it. They were as varied as any group might be in the Quirk-driven society, but there was something…different about them.

While most Heroes had an aura about them that said they were to be trusted and that all was well, the sense of menace and bloodlust emanating from these people was its polar opposite.

"Are those more battle robots? Like during the entrance exam?" Kirishima couldn't see as well as she could from her position apparently. He would never have said such a thing if he could.

"Don't move." Aizawa, no, _Eraserhead_ , put on his goggles, "Those are Villains."

And there were a lot of them. Dozens. Once the tear in reality had stopped producing Villains it swirled and formed a vaguely human shape, revealing its consistency to be something like mist.

Then it spoke.

"Thirteen…and Eraserhead, huh? According to the staff schedule I received the other day, All Might should be here as well."

"Damn it." Eraserhead said, as if to himself, "That whole incident was this scum's doing. Of course."

There was one Villain in particular who stood just in front of the mist entity. He had shaggy, silver-blue hair that looked like it hadn't been properly styled in ages. He was thin, dressed in all black except for the disembodied hands that were clasped firmly onto various parts of his body, with one in particular covering his face and two more clasped around his neck.

Next to him stood a towering black monstrosity that was all bulging, scarred muscles. Its face was its most terrifying feature though. An exposed brain with large, unfocused eyes was set over an elongated, beak-like mouth that was filled with razor-sharp teeth.

The man with the hands tilted his head to stare at the group of teachers and students gathered at the top of the large staircase that led to the entrance.

"Where is he? We've come all this way just to see him and we've brought so many playmates as well…All Might…the Symbol of Peace…where is he?"

It was then that a sickening wave of pressure washed over the students. It was similar to what Aizawa had done on Sunday, but it was clear that he had been holding back. This was real killing intent. Evil unleashed.

"I wonder…if maybe some dead kids would get him to show himself? Worth a try, don't you think?"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

This shouldn't be happening, _couldn't_ be happening, but here it was. Villains had infiltrated the U.A. campus. Izuku was forced to accept this reality even as his common sense rebelled against it.

"Sensei," Yaoyorozu was speaking quickly, voice trembling slightly, "aren't there intruder sensors? There aren't any alarms going off!"

"Yes, of course there are!" Thirteen sounded just as confused.

"Are they only here, or also at the main building?" Todoroki was thinking out loud, "Whatever the case, if the sensors aren't working, then one of them has to have a Quirk that's interfering with them. USJ is far from the campus and they somehow managed to pick a time when there wouldn't be that many people here, so they must not be as dumb as they seem if they're trying to infiltrate a place like U.A. They must have an objective of some kind to be pulling off a sneak attack like this."

Again, Izuku was impressed. Before he could contribute to the brainstorming session, Eraserhead started giving orders again.

"Thirteen! Start evacuating the students and try contacting the school! There's a good chance these Villains have an electric-type in their ranks that's causing interference! Kaminari, try using your Quirk along with your radio to signal for help!"

"Yeah!" the Class President nodded from nearby, "Got it, Sensei!" It was a good plan, but Izuku could see one glaring flaw.

"Sensei! You can't possibly intend to fight them all by yourself! You can't nullify that many Quirks at once! Eraserhead's fighting style isn't suited to group battles like this!" at this, Eraserhead turned his head just enough to look at Izuku from the corner of his goggle-covered eye.

"No good Hero is a one-trick pony, Midoriya. Remember that." as he leapt down the massive stairs with a single bound, he said one final thing, "Thirteen! Take care of my kids!"

As he streaked downwards, capture tape billowing around him, a trio of Villains strode confidently to the front of the group and tried to shoot him with their Quirks.

But nothing happened. Apparently, Eraserhead _could_ cancel multiple Quirks at once. The Villains realized this fact too late as capture tape grabbed all three around the middle and yanked them skywards. As Eraserhead passed them in midair, he used his momentum to slam their heads together, using his own body as a fulcrum. The result was three unconscious Villains from a single move.

Next was a burly pair of mutant-types. Izuku knew that Eraserhead's Quirk didn't work on those types of Quirks and apparently so did the Villains from their cocky stride. This confidence vanished when Eraserhead lunged forwards and caught one full in the face with a palm strike. Izuku could have sworn he heard something crack. At the same time, a strand of capture tape was hurled at the off-balance Villain, wrapping around his ankle. With a mighty spinning jerk, Eraserhead dodged a swing from the other Villain and brought his partner crashing into him. Two more down.

Eraserhead was surrounded at this point, but nobody seemed to want to be the one to charge him first.

"Wow, he can hold his own even when he's outnumbered that badly?! I had no idea!" Izuku just couldn't help himself. Iida got his head back in the game though.

"This is _not_ the time for analysis, Midoriya-san! Hurry and evacuate!"

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." It was the Mist Villain. He had appeared out of nowhere and was blocking their progress, spreading his body out across their path. "Allow me to offer our sincerest greetings; we are the League of Villains. Do forgive our audacity at inviting ourselves into this bastion of Heroism, but you see, we have some very pressing business. Namely…to end the life of All Might, the Symbol of Peace."

That stopped Izuku cold. Kill All Might? Such a thing just wasn't possible. Better Villains than these had tried and failed. The Villain was not done, however.

"We were under the impression that All Might would be here today. Has his schedule been revised? Well, no matter. My role in all of this remains unchanged." he suddenly began expanding his body, looking as though he intended to swallow them all up.

This was seemingly thwarted when a hardened fist, a large explosion and a small fireball all collided with him, sending his mist scattering every which way.

 _Alright…good to know that works._

Izuku had, without thinking, tried out a technique that he had been working with on a conceptual level for a while now. Namely, he had reached for the closest thing to his normal five percent that he could and instead of channeling fire into his limbs, he sent it to his throat. At that point, all he had to do was Smash with his diaphragm and he could breathe fire…at least in theory.

And the upside of all this was: no burns. Finally, a use for his flameproof innards other than eating fire and spicy food with no regrets the next day.

"Yeah! Didn't see that coming did you?!" Kirishima was obviously feeling the adrenaline.

"Nice one, Deku! When were you gonna tell me you could do that?"

"I was saving it for our rematch." not true in the least, but he could at least _act_ cool, couldn't he? Let him have his moment.

"Well, well…that _was_ close. I must remember that, though you may be students, you are still the elite."

Or, you know, shit all over it instead. Whatever works.

Before Thirteen could finish his shout for them to get back, Deku had leapt forwards, grabbed Kacchan, and thrown him back into the crowd. He grabbed Kirishima next and willed his legs to propel the pair of them far back enough to avoid whatever was coming next.

"Begone."

But it was not to be.

Black mist suddenly exploded all around them at an incredibly violent pace. It swirled like a hurricane, blacking out every scrap of light, filling his lungs and-

And then it was gone. Izuku was falling, Kirishima still in his grasp.

And all he saw was fire.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Tch. That wasn't where I wanted to send that one. Oh well. It makes little difference in the end."

Tenya Iida could not believe what had just happened. One instant, they were all together facing this Villain and the next all that remained were himself, Sero, Ashido, Sato, Shoji and Thirteen, whom they had been clustered behind. Perhaps that was why they were spared?

"You!" but none of that mattered right now, "What have you done with my classmates?!"

The Mist Villain turned his glowing, yellow eyes towards Tenya.

"Why, I simply removed them from the equation."

He…

He _couldn't_ mean…

"Iida-san." Shoji's level voice sounded by his ear, having come from one of his tentacles transforming into a mouth, "Do not worry. Just after the mist vanished, I witnessed several smaller pockets appearing at various places throughout the facility and dropping the others. I do not believe his Quirk has the ability to kill in an instant like he is suggesting."

Tenya took a steadying breath and nodded, thanking the large boy. He had been too quick to assume the worst and had nearly lost his composure. He would need his wits about him for this.

After all, they still had Villains to deal with.

* * *

 **I think Kurogiri will find that sending Izuku to the Conflagration Zone will indeed make a difference. In fact, every zone will be at least a _little_ different, even the two (or three, depending on your point of view) that have the same team composition as canon.**

 **Also, I found a huge hole in the theory that the Traitor is responsible for stealing the faculty schedule and this _will_ have consequences. Namely that, as Nezu points out, the level three security breach went off in spite of the fact that, allegedly, nobody without a U.A. ID got inside the building. If it was the Traitor, then they _would_ have had a U.A. ID and therefore not been detected. The faculty could have still been distracted by the level 2 security alarm, but there was no need to alert the entire damned building.**

 **Hell, they even staged it during lunch. The Traitor could have just acted like they were going to the bathroom or something.**

 **This story might not even _have_ a Traitor depending on how things go. The way I see it, it's not a necessary thing to have as long as the Villains play their cards right. It's not like they have anyone who could literally _be_ anyone they wanted.**

 **Let me know your thoughts on the subject. That's my question for this week along with the ongoing Hero Names/Shipping one.**

 **Next time we're really getting into the meat of things at USJ.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14: Showstopper

**Alrighty! Another week another chapter. And so many reviews! We have over a hundred and fifty now! I say this a lot but you guys are amazing.**

 **Speaking of which, review time:**

 **skystar99: Thank you. I'm a fan of the parental tendencies that some of the teachers have.**

 **Twain apprenntice: I think that's the approach I'll take. I'm glad you like the characterization. I certainly have plans for Endeavor.**

 **Colinpop5: Thank you!**

 **RandomDude: It was indeed sarcasm. I absolutely have plans for Toga. I know that canonically she isn't with the League until after the Hosu incident, but I think she just has so much potential, especially if we assume there is no traitor. I'll figure something out for her.**

 **No worries dude. You don't have to force yourself to write long reviews, just like I'm not forcing myself to match the absolute titans that were Chapters 10 and 11. Every review is appreciated.**

 **SillyEmber: My apologies, I didn't mean to make things awkward. I can just do my updates on Sundays from now on, since it's what people seem to have come to expect. It's really no sweat off my brow.**

 **I was aiming to surprise. It surprised me too actually when I tallied the votes! I'm happy with it though.**

 **On the subject of the school being on-board with the M &M stuff...that's an interesting idea. Maybe one of them sits in on a session for shiggles and thinks "Holy crap there might be something to this." That could make for an interesting development so it's not just games all the time. Could also give Yamada something else to post online.**

 **Even with the events that essentially follow canon, I will always try to make them feel at least a little different. I'm glad that I managed to do that here.**

 **On the subject of TvTropes, serious talk for a moment. This is me putting my serious hat on.**

 **I would be honored, BEYOND honored, if that ever happens. To me, having a TvTropes page is like, the ultimate proof of success when it comes to a fanfic. Just below that, but still awesome, is having it in the recommended fics section.**

 **I just wanted to convey how seriously I take TvTropes, in spite of the fact that it will ruin your life. Thank you again.**

 **Hektols: Perhaps. I am not sure if they would have had the time to do both (let alone the skills to hack U.A.'s system), but the mics/cameras are a very real possibility. This also brings with it the idea that Nezu probably would have thought of that and stripped-searched the place afterwards.**

 **God only knows what poor Shoto imagined. When he does a post-mortem of the incident, Izuku might very well decide that he finally found a place where he can actually cut loose and practice with his Quirk to his heart's content. It practically has infinite fire!**

 **Primordial Vortex: Thank you for this praise. It always makes me happy to hear things like this.**

 **xCinderAntx: I am glad you enjoy it and I hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

 **The 0bservanc3: Thank you for your input on this topic. I appreciate it.**

 **Basically, Izuku is more confident now, but he hasn't changed completely. He still has a tendency to see himself as less worthy than others and still has a shy streak to him. You are pretty much correct. As for Katsuki, "elitist" doesn't necessarily mean "rich." He certainly suspected it, but didn't have enough concrete evidence until now.**

 **I did think that him silencing everyone so easily in canon was a bit odd. I am glad you agree. I also enjoyed writing Nezu a lot more than I thought I would. I am glad that I was able to flesh him out like I did. You pretty much hit the nail on the head with what I was going for there.**

 **The deal with Thirteen is that, while I was re-reading the manga and looking over the wiki, I found an interesting discussion. I had always thought that Thirteen was male, but I found that was a mistranslation in the manga, and that the intent was for their gender to be ambiguous. I have decided to uphold this, though I still occasionally slip when writing and refer to them as "he." To actually answer your question, I would go ahead and call them non-binary, because why not?**

 **I am not pushing for a TodoShido ship at this time. She just canonically thinks of him as the most attractive boy in class and, to be fair, she's kinda right. I don't think it's a secret that Mina's a total flirt. Some even go so far as to suggest that she's bisexual and/or polyamorous, which I could see in all fairness. Don't worry though, the last thing I want any of my characters to be is shallow.**

 **Regarding Kurogiri's Quirk, I believe he produces it from his body, though the exact distance he can control it from has never been specified. My reasoning for this is the confrontation with Stain at the bar, where he redirects weapons with portals that are clearly coming from his hands. Judging from his performance at USJ, I believe he set up those portals in advance, even if he did so rather quickly. I think it's safe to say that his Quirk is INCREDIBLY versatile.**

 **He saw Izuku spit fire and automatically assumed that he had immunity (or at least resistance) to fire, since that's the norm with that kind of thing. As for Nezu, it's worth noting that Present Mic was the first to present that idea (that we are aware of). He may have just accepted it as the most likely scenario at the time. Nezu is, however, like every sentient creature with an ego, susceptible to personal bias. Once he accepted this idea as the most likely, his mind, consciously or not, compiled a list of evidence to justify his belief. And Nezu very clearly does have an ego, even if he has been shown to be very good at keeping it under control.**

 **At this point I am working under the assumption that there is no traitor, which supports the concept that the Villains are just that much more clever and dangerous, which I dig. Villains _should_ be scary.**

 **zZ Sky Ninja Zz: I am indeed familiar with Fairy Tail. I actually like it quite a lot. He does have some similarities to Natsu, but I suppose that with how many anime powers are out there, especially fire-based ones, that he was going to end up resembling _somebody_. He could do worse than Natsu for sure XD**

 **LioPyro7890: Thank you! I hope this doesn't disappoint.**

 **otakuficwriter: You bet! I respond to all my reviews and value all my reviewers. The theory I find the most interesting and well thought-out is actually the one that states that Kaminari is the traitor. It boils down to him faking his derp-factor when he uses his power. There's a lot of other stuff but I don't want to take up space going over it here. Theories are neat though.**

 **You must be experiencing a glitch, my friend. The only tags I have ever applied to this story are General/Friendship, the fact that it is an MHA fic, and the four character tags of Izuku M., Ochako U., Katsuki B., and Enji T./Endeavor. Perhaps your device formatted it strangely?**

 **On another note, it is great to know that there are people who enjoyed this enough to re-read it!**

 **Partsu: I actually got pinged in real-time as you were working your way through the story. It made for a fun day, so thank you for that (no sarcasm I actually did enjoy it).**

 **I am glad you are enjoying the story so far. Thank you especially for your review of Chapter 10. I consider that to be my best chapter to date, though I am hoping to at least get a close second within the next chapter or two. As for Mineta, I understand your mixed feelings on the matter. I really had to pro-con my decisions regarding him, and it just so happened that this one won out.**

 **Kurogiri's mistake will have repercussions in both the short and long-term for sure. He will regret bringing the Conflagration Zone to Izuku's attention.**

 **Thank you for your reviews and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, let's get on with USJ!**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: Showstopper

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

This was the overriding thought in Minoru Mineta's head as he narrowly escaped injury or death for the second time in less than five minutes.

Well, that and a combination of inarticulate screaming, swearing and half-formed prayers to whatever god would listen. In then end though, it all boiled down to one thing:

It wasn't supposed to _be_ like this.

It was supposed to be like normal high school, only cooler. With hot chicks.

Sure, maybe it would be a little harder, but he was smart! He managed to get through the entrance exam by using his head and capturing the Faux Villains. He had proven that you didn't need a big, destructive, flashy Quirk to make it at U.A.! Given a bit of time, he could have gotten even better and really shown his stuff when it was time to make his debut! Then everyone would see how great he was! Especially the hot chicks!

But this…this just wasn't fair! They weren't even through their first week of school and now they had to deal with _Villains_?! They had come out of nowhere, split the whole class up, dropped Minoru in the freaking Flood Zone and within three seconds of entering the drink he had been face-to-face with a Villain whose Quirk apparently turned him into a shark-man. Luckily, Asui had shown up in time to rescue him and get the pair of them onto the large boat that was one of the zone's set pieces.

Once the pair had boarded the vessel, the Villains (it turned out there were _several_ ) had surrounded them but not pressed the attack for some reason. Minoru took the opportunity to have a panic attack because there was no clear way out of this and there was no way in hell that they were ready for a situation this serious.

As far as he could tell, Asui agreed with him but was somehow able to keep her cool. Didn't she understand that they had zero chance of survival? His Quirk was useless in a situation like this and while hers was good, they were just way too outnumbered.

It was at that point that one particular Villain, who seemed to have some form of aquakinesis, decided that the stalemate had gone on long enough and proceeded to cut the boat in half with a high-pressure water sword. He made a follow-up stroke but Asui's quick thinking saved both of them as she took hold of him with her tongue again and leapt clear of the now-wrecked vessel.

"We have to get away from the water!" was the only plan Minoru could come up with before they started descending.

It wouldn't matter, of course. Even if they did manage to escape this particular group of Villains, he knew there were more. He had seen them come in. There could have been as many as a hundred. The truth was, there was no escape. Not from this. Not with their abilities.

Damn it, _it wasn't supposed to BE like this_!

He could see the shark-faced Villain below them. His teeth shone white in stark contrast to his gray skin. There were so many. Too many. Even as Minoru started to hurl his grapes as rapidly as possible towards the Villains, he knew that it was no use.

They would be back in the water soon. Back amongst the Villains who clearly wanted nothing more than to kill them. Then there would be nothing he could do. It would be all up to Asui.

In a pinch, that was always what it came down to, wasn't it? The tactical types like him were only useful when everything was going according to plan. When shit really hit the fan, it came down to the ones with the most powerful Quirks. People like Todoroki, Bakugo, or Midoriya. There was a reason why the Top Heroes were always ones with raw power and versatility on their side. All Might, Endeavor, Hawks, Best Jeanist, the list went on.

Minoru had never harbored any illusions that he would be a Top Hero. He knew that he would have to settle for a respectable, middle-of-the road position. Maybe he would occasionally be called in for a team-up with a big-shot when they were in need of extra manpower or his particular Quirk, but for the most part he would be locally-known and nothing more.

He was fine with that. Local Heroes were actually better off in a couple of ways. For one, they rarely had Villains come in from out of town looking for a fight just for the hell of it. For another, they built closer relationships with the people they helped to protect, since they saw them over and over again. This part in particular worked out great for Minoru since it would give him the chance to build a rep with any local beauties.

He knew that it wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows. Such a job never was. But that came later, after he had training and experience under his belt. It didn't come on his third fucking day of school!

IT WASN'T SUPPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS!

Then they hit the water.

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Izuku Midoriya was falling.

More precisely, he was falling towards a cityscape that was more on fire than not and he was still holding on to Kirishima.

"Oh shit! What the- Midoriya?!" the Hardening Quirk user seemed to have grasped the situation just a bit after Izuku had.

"Kirishima-san, we need to find a way to break our fall!"

"I mean, I can use Hardening and that should protect me just fine but it won't do much for you!"

"That's fine! Do that! I'll think of something!"

Easier said than done. One step at a time, first he needed fire. Luckily, there was an abundant supply.

"Do it, Midoriya!" Kirishima yelled as his Quirk activated with an audible * **chink** *, "My Quirk protects me from heat and stuff!"

That was extremely valuable information.

"Sorry about this!" Izuku quickly apologized before he fired up Flame Magnet and began to inhale.

Falling towards a sea of flames was one thing. Seeing said sea suddenly shoot upwards towards you while you were falling towards it was on its own separate level about three orders of magnitude higher on the scale of "Shit That Is Legitimately Terrifying." Nevertheless, it did the trick almost immediately. When Izuku had taken in as much as he could, he cut off Flame Magnet and the remaining flames that were in the air dissipated, revealing that they were that much closer to the ground.

"Monsieur, could you use a hand?" suddenly Aoyama was there, armor shining and cape billowing wildly as he fell. Though he was in the same situation as them, his unflappable smile was the same as ever. "I would be more than happy to oblige!"

"Where the hell did you come from?!" Kirishima's surprise couldn't be faulted. Izuku was surprised too, but his mind was currently in overdrive trying to prevent his imminent demise.

If he could use his trick from before, but focus it into a stream, then use Aoyama's Navel Laser to add stability then maybe…but that still left Kirishima. No time. This was the plan he was going with.

"Kirishima-san, will you be okay on your own?!"

"Don't worry about me, Midoriya! Do what you have to do!" not a second of hesitation. It would have gotten Izuku choked up if he wasn't currently under the mother of all time-constraints.

So he threw Kirishima to one side and immediately grabbed Aoyama, turning him perpendicular to himself and mashing the small of his armored back into his stomach.

"Aoyama-san, I need you to fire off the most forceful blast you can right when we're about to hit!"

"Oui!"

Izuku took a deep breath, focusing the flames into his throat like before. He needed to be careful with this. Ten percent or thereabouts. Any less might not be enough and any more and he ran the risk of injuring Aoyama, not to mention himself.

 _Focus on the feeling of five percent…then double it and don't let up!_

No time left. It was now or never.

Izuku pursed his lips, contracted his diaphragm, and spat a stream of fire towards the ground below them. He could feel his gut cramping up, his ribcage shifting, but he couldn't afford to let up. His fire was half-gone now and they were still going too fast. In a last-ditch effort to give them just a bit more of a chance, Izuku opened his mouth as wide as it would go and expelled all of his remaining air in a single burst, resulting in a sudden surge of flames.

"Art of Seduction: Full Power!" Aoyama had evidently decided that the time was right to play his part as he fired off a short-lived, but powerful blast from his abdomen that was easily double the size he usually used.

Then the impact came.

The rebounding force sent Izuku bouncing away from Aoyama, feeling as though he had just been hit in the gut with a cinderblock. He had the presence of mind to roll with the next impact and came to a stop shortly thereafter. He was having a hell of a time trying to get his breath back and he was very glad that he had eaten a light lunch that day, but overall he seemed to be okay, if a bit battered.

Thank god for all of those sit-ups All Might had made him do.

"Ugh…merde…but this is what being such a chevalier gets me, non?" it sounded like Aoyama was alright too. His armor must have helped soften the impact somewhat. Or maybe he was tougher than he looked? Lord knew Izuku of all people shouldn't be judging a book by its cover.

"Jesus Christ are you guys okay?!" and that was Kirishima. Good. All three of them made it. Mission Success and all that nonsense…

…God he wanted to vomit right now.

 _Deep breaths, Izuku…okay, inhaled a bit of ash with that one, but you've got the right idea. Maybe use that respirator next time? You_ did _buy a new one, remember? It's around your neck and everything._

As Izuku felt a pair of strong arms helping him to his feet, his brain suddenly caught up with the situation at hand.

"They knew U.A.'s schedule."

"What's that, Midoriya?" Kirishima asked as he helped his friend steady himself.

"They knew that All Might was supposed to be here today. They must have caused that media rush the other day and gathered their intel then." Izuku was only half paying attention to what was going on around him, "They said they're here to kill All Might!"

"Come on, Midoriya," Kirishima had moved on to Aoyama, "that's crazy talk! Nobody can beat All Might. He's the Number One Hero for a reason."

"Au contraire, Kirishima-san," Aoyama was futilely attempting to shake soot from his cape, "if this was so, then why would they come here only to be beaten? All Might's reputation proceeds him in the entire country, so surely they knew what they were getting into, oui?"

"It's like Todoroki-san said," Izuku continued, "this was premeditated. They planned out every single step. After all that, it wouldn't make sense for them to do this unless they really thought they had a way to beat him."

"But _how_?!" Eijiro was clearly beginning to become unnerved by this conversation, "And why All Might? Why _now_?!"

Izuku honestly didn't have the answer. He had a few ideas, but there wasn't time to go over them in detail. There was only one thing that mattered right then.

"If there's even the slightest chance that they have a way to beat All Might, then…" Izuku's sentence was interrupted by the appearance of several Villains who had apparently come to investigate the commotion caused by a burst of fire and a laser blast, "…we've got a job to do. We need to beat these guys back and meet up with everyone else as quickly as we can!"

"That's a plan I can get behind!" Eijiro's fighting spirit had ignited and he smashed his hardened fists together.

"Oui…" Aoyama agreed, "…but unfortunately I will have to stay back for a few moments yet. That blast took a little more out of me than I had planned on. I will provide ranged support when I am able."

"In that case, I'll play middle." Izuku took a moment to absorb some of the nearby flames, bringing himself back to about a quarter tank before replacing his respirator over his mouth, "I'll take care of anyone who gets past you, Kirishima-san, so you can fight without worries. Let me know if you need a breather and we can switch."

"Roger that, Vice-Prez! Simple and effective so even I can understand it; this is my kind of plan!"

Then the first wave of Villains drew level with their perimeter and the Heroes-in-Training went to work.

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Shoto Todoroki was rather pleased with his landing strategy. As soon as he had realized what was going on, he shot an angular pillar of ice at the ground, gradually twisting and levelling it out until it shot him onto the ground like the mother of all slides. He was a bit scuffed, but overall it was a win. Bonus points for style too.

Sure, it would probably attract any Villains in the area too, but he didn't have a problem with that. His specialty was dealing with crowds after all and it would be over a lot more quickly then if he had to track them all down himself. He would freeze them, interrogate them and then regroup with the others to share the intel. It would go off like clockwork.

What Shoto _hadn't_ been expecting was a female voice crying out moments before a body impacted him from behind, arms and legs wrapping around his torso reflexively. He would have been knocked over if the figure had not been so light.

At least, this was what Shoto assumed had happened because, while he could feel the limbs, he could not _see_ them apart from a pair of gloves and shoes. This left him with three guesses who he was currently wearing like a human backpack and the first two didn't count.

"They sent you here too, Hagakure-san?"

"Todoroki! Man, Mina is gonna be jealous when I tell her about this! Oh!" apparently remarking on her current situation had made her aware of the fact that she was currently pressed flush against Shoto's back, "Hang on, I'll get off."

"Wait." Shoto had seen movement in his peripheral, "Stay right where you are. I don't have to aim this way."

"Aim wha- oh." at this point the Villains had started approaching from the front as well. Shoto felt a shift as Hagakure adjusted her grip and felt a weight rest on his shoulder that was confirmed to be her chin a moment later when her voice was closer to his ear than before, having dropped in volume as well. The whole situation struck Shoto as being very intimate before he told that part to kindly shut up while there was fighting to be done, "You sure you aren't taking advantage of the situation just a _little_ bit?"

Not that he would ever admit to, no. If anything, he couldn't talk back to her without giving her presence away, so _she_ was the one taking advantage. He settled for a low growl.

"Oh, relax. I'm messing with you. It's what I do when I'm nervous. By the way, there's three more coming in from behind. They're further away then the ones in front, but not as far as the ones to your left. They think they're being sneaky. It's kinda funny, actually."

Shoto made a show of wiping his mouth with his sleeve to hide its movement.

"Let me know when they get within twenty feet. I'll hit them all at once." a hum that he felt through his back more than heard with his ear told him that she understood.

"Heheh. Look at what we've got here!" a particularly ugly specimen to his front addressed the other Villains, actually making the rookie mistake of looking at the ones behind him as well. Well, if he hadn't known before, he sure as hell did _now_. Amateurs, "Just one kid all by himself! Maybe we should take him hostage?"

"You heard the boss," one to his right rebutted, "we're going for the kill here. You wanna be teleported into a meat grinder or disintegrated starting from your balls, be my guest."

"Don't even joke about that, man."

"Who said I was joking?"

Fun times. Apparently in addition to the teleporter, they had someone who could disintegrate people as well. These guys were _dumb_. It couldn't be more obvious that they were just hired goons doing what they were told. It was almost enough to make him feel bad about what he had in store for them…

"Sic 'em, Todo."

…but not quite.

Shoto had been focusing his Quirk into his right leg for the past few moments. He could still do some damage with a snap-cast as it were, but for the kind of precision he wanted with this, he needed to concentrate. That was another reason why he wanted them to be close; if he tried to cover too large of an area, it would chill him needlessly. Until the fight was over, he couldn't use his fire. Not even to warm himself. That was the vow he'd made.

A wave of ice suddenly spread from where his right foot touched the ground, covering a twenty-foot radius circle of ground around him and rapidly spreading up the legs and body of anyone it touched until it froze them in place, leaving their faces uncovered.

"What was that you were saying about 'just one kid'? You just got beaten in an instant by that kid, so as adults, what does that make you? Kind of pathetic, don't you think?"

"Geez," Hagakure whispered in his ear, "you ever considered 'Freezerburn' as a Hero Name? With quips like that, you seriously should."

"Whatever. You can get off now."

"Hell no! It's freaking cold all of a sudden! You're nice and warm…at least on the left."

"…You're going to get tired of hanging on eventually."

"I will suffer for the greater good! The longer I hang tough the better this story will be later! You might benefit from this too, you know? If I get her riled up enough, Mina might just glomp you out of sheer jealousy! Or are you saying I'm too heavy?"

"No. You're not heavy." Shoto knew better than to step on _that_ particular landmine, especially when the girl in question could get him back in ways that he would _literally_ never see coming. "Please don't start trying to get people to glomp me though."

"You know, you're one of the few boys I know who would actually say ' _no'_ to that? I mean, you hardly seem bothered by _this_ ," she squeezed a bit harder for a moment, "in spite of the fact that I'm…well…you know."

Yes, he knew. He was _quite_ aware of the fact, thank you very much. The evidence was currently pressed somewhere between his shoulder blades.

"Honestly, I gotta say thanks for being so chill about this. It makes it a lot less awkward for me."

"Can we not talk about this right now?" she was really starting to erode his formidable ability to ignore things though.

"Sure. Let's see…interrogation?"

"That works. Let's do that."

"Is that kid crazy or something? He's talking to himself!"

"Hey, I'm not saying anything! You wanna be frozen from the inside of your ass up, be my guest."

"…You've got issues, man."

Shoto had a pretty good idea of who to start with.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Eh?! What do you mean you don't know where he is?!"

"I mean-" * **Kaboom*** "-that I don't-" * **Crunch** * "-know where the fuck he is, Uraraka!" * **BLAMM** *

"If I might -TOH- interject, -HIYAH-!" * **POW BAM** * "I think that we should get out of this kill box they have us set up in."

"Why would we do that, Tailman? They're right -DIE- where I want 'em! In face-exploding range!"

"Maybe because -RELEASE- our main goal here should be to find the others and not just waste time with these goons?"

Bakugo had to admit that she had a point. The Head Villain in Charge had said that their goal was to kill All Might, which his second-in-command had re-iterated just a moment before being introduced to one of his explosions. The only reason they were even bothering with the students seemed to be because they were intent on killing time (and the students) while they waited for him to show up.

Katsuki wasn't even going to _begin_ digging into all the things that didn't smell right about this situation. One of which was currently sneaking up behind him.

* **BOOM** *

There. Taken care of. Honestly, he would have loved nothing more than to stay here and just keep cracking skulls until he ran out of heads. It was fucking liberating to be able to just go wild and not worry about getting into trouble as long as he didn't kill anyone. It wasn't like Deku was in any real trouble either if mooks like this were all that they had to deal with.

Except they weren't. With Deku's luck he would find himself right smack in the middle of the biggest, nastiest fight against at least two high-ranking Villains. At least he had Redhead with him, if the last position he saw the pair of them in was any indication.

"Fine." he made his decision and assumed command, "Uraraka, Tailman, on me. We're gonna take the party to them. If we run into anyone else along the way, all the better."

"Yeah!"

"Roger that."

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Denki Kaminari was doing his best to be presidential, by which he meant not breaking out into a panic as his first instinct was to do as they were surrounded by Villains with their backs to a rock wall. Instead, he had noticed that Yaoyorozu was producing weapons for her and Jiro. She had made herself a metallic quarterstaff and Jiro a machete. This got him thinking.

"Hey, Yaomomo, can you make me something blunt? The more conductive the better."

She thought for a moment before holding out her empty left hand, from which a handle suddenly emerged. He drew it out slowly to reveal a collapsible baton which, when he flicked it open, turned out to be a solid two feet long. With his best "let's get dangerous" smirk, he channeled his Quirk through his body and into the baton, causing it to dance with visible electricity.

"Nice."

It was at that moment that the first few Villains decided to charge them. Jiro blasted a few that were in front of them by plugging one of her jacks into one of her boots which, as it turned out, had speakers installed in them. The sound wave, which she had told Denki was generated by her heartbeats, brought them to the ground, clutching their heads. One or two looked like they might be bleeding from the ears. Sucked to be them.

"Eyes up, Prez!" she suddenly barked at him.

He spun around, instinctively lashing out with the baton. This was fortunate, as he caught a rather large Villain in the chest with it. He felt his wrist wrench a bit at the impact, but managed to keep his grip on the baton, which proceeded to do its job. The Villain's movements were momentarily halted by the electricity, giving Denki enough time to come back around with a blow to the head, knocking him unconscious.

"Gotta warn you guys, the Class President of 1-A is pretty strong. Unfortunately for you, that's me."

"Kaminari-san!" Yaoyorozu had taken the last member of the first wave down by bashing him across the face with her staff, "Didn't you say that your Quirk could be used in an area?"

"Yeah, it can, but I can't control where it goes! I'd hit you guys too and that'd be no good!"

"I can fix that! Just give me a moment."

Well whatever she was going to do, he hoped she did it quickly. The rest of the Villains looked pretty pissed and one or two of the first wave were getting back up. They were going to charge soon and overwhelm them.

What would Midoriya do?

Something stupid. Right.

"Hey, Jiro."

"What is it, Kaminari?" Denki took a brief moment to look at her over his shoulder to make sure she heard him.

"This is an order from your Class Prez: guard Yaomomo until she's ready with whatever she's cooking up."

"No shit, Sherlock! That's been the plan this whole time! Did you leave your earplugs in after the show or something?!" he started to walk towards the Villains, "Whoa! Where the hell are you going?!"

"These guys won't give us the time that Yaomomo needs, so we need a showstopper. I'm volunteering. Signal me when I can cut loose."

"Get back here you idiot!" but it was too late. Denki ran at the cluster of Villains, baton held off to one side.

"Come on! If you think you can take me on, you're in for a shock!"

The Villains were so surprised at his apparent stupidity that he was able to get off a clean hit with his baton before they reacted.

Things went steadily downhill after that. Denki used his baton to keep his attackers at bay and his free left hand to zap those who got too close, but eventually he found himself surrounded. He had taken a few hits in the process and he thought his nose was bleeding. He was starting to feel a bit woozy, if he was being honest.

He had still managed to tag most of the Villains at least once and his cocky grin had never left his face.

"What's the matter? Not having fun anymore? I'm having a blast!"

"What the fuck is up with this kid?! He's taken like three hits to the head and he's still standing!"

For some reason Denki found this to be incredibly funny and was overcome with a case of the giggles.

"Hee…ask anyone I know, buddy; they'll tell you I don't have much up top for you to mess up in the first place, so smack away!" he punctuated by smacking the speaker in the head with his baton, "You know, kinda like that!"

"Cut loose you crazy bastard!" Jiro's voice was music to his ears. Fitting.

"Well boys, it's been a gas," Denki raised his baton dramatically above his head, the electricity coursing through it and his body suddenly increasing in intensity, "but it's time for me to stop holding back!"

Denki put both hands on the baton and brought it crashing down onto the ground, pushing his Quirk to the limit and beyond to perform his ultimate attack, which sent high-voltage electricity out in every direction around him.

 _Of course I couldn't go down that easily, you punks. Didn't you hear me when I said I was the Class President? I'm their leader and everyone knows that the leader has to be the toughest one of them all! Now EAT SHIT!_

"Indiscriminate Shock: ONE-POINT-THREE MILLION VOLTS!"

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Mezo Shoji was watching very carefully.

Watching what? Everything.

His main eyes were focused on the swirling Mist Villain in front of his group. He had one Tentacleye focused on Thirteen, another swapping between the rest of his group, and two more scanning the area as a whole, trying to pick up whatever pieces of information he could. Of his remaining two tentacles, one was a mouth that he was using to relay whatever information he thought was pertinent, while the other was an extra ear because having an extra ear was always helpful. People always underestimated the Tentaclears.

Their current plan, which Thirteen had just finished explaining, was for Iida to escape on his own and use his superior speed to find more teachers ASAP. It was a good plan, as far as things went, but it had one flaw.

Namely that the Mist Villain had heard the entire thing and was currently telling them as much.

"I mean, really, even if you have no other choice and it is the best plan available, do you really think it's advisable to discuss your plans so openly in front of your enemy?"

"You misunderstand," Thirteen replied, subtly popping a cap off of one of their fingers, "I'm being open about this because _it doesn't matter if you know_! Black Hole!"

It was as if Thirteen had fired up the most powerful vacuum in the world and pointed it directly at the Villain. The mist started being sucked into their finger, the Villain's main mass being slowly dragged towards the miniature void.

Shoji noted that the amount of mist being lost was disproportionate to how much the Villain appeared to be comprised of. That, combined with his attack from earlier, suggested that he could generate more. To do _that_ , he would require a main body from which to generate it.

Then Mezo noticed something that made his blood run cold.

A very small tendril of mist had crept around outside of Thirteen's range and was primed to create a portal behind them. That meant the Villain had a plan.

Furthermore, this Villain was a talker. The fact that he had been eerily silent since Thirteen's attack started meant that he was focusing, which meant that this was probably a _good_ plan.

"You are truly powerful, Thirteen," the Villain praised, "but your inexperience as a Combat Hero is painfully obvious!"

Had Shoji's diving leap been just one second later, he would have been torn apart along with Thirteen. As it was, he had transformed all of his tentacles back into hands and bowled the Space Hero over just in time to prevent them from being hoisted by their own petard. The Mist Villain had turned his own body into a portal and attempted to redirect Thirteen's power back at them by opening another portal behind them.

"Unfortunately for you, Thirteen isn't alone!" a stream of tape suddenly shot towards the Mist Villain, tagging him on his odd, metallic neck brace.

"OORRAAAA!" the Villain was suddenly airborne as Sato wrenched at the tape, intent on smashing the Villain into the ground.

"Hmph, futile!" a portal opened up on the ground in the Villain's path, primed to send him who-knows-where.

"I do not think so!" the suction was back. Thirteen had read the situation and sucked up the forming portal, causing the Mist Villain to collide violently with the ground. The sound of the impact was less forceful than Shoji had anticipated, meaning that the mist had cushioned his fall somewhat. He was going to get back up!

"Don't move, creep!" Ashido was there. She was poised over the Villain, one hand pinning him to the ground by his neckwear while the other dripped with acid that sizzled as it fell onto the ground by his head, "If you do anything I don't like, I swear I'll melt a hole through your neck! I might not understand exactly what's going on here, but you've got to have a body under there somewhere if you were afraid of hitting the ground, right?"

"Nngh! Curses!"

"Iida-san! Begone!" Mezo shouted, "Leave right now!"

"Ah, right! I will return with help, I promise!"

Iida shot off towards the exit, pried the doors open, and was gone.

"Haah…" Mezo let out a sigh. That had been a trying experience.

"Thank you for your assistance." Thirteen was patting him on the shoulder, having resealed their finger cap, "Had it not been for your quick thinking, I would be in a very sorry state right now."

"Not at all, Thirteen-sensei," Shoji replied, "I was only following your lesson from earlier and trying to think of the best way to use my Quirk to help everyone. I figured that having more eyes on the situation would be useful. I just happened to figure out what the Villain was planning in time to prevent it."

"You would be very surprised how many well-known Heroic acts have more than a small element of luck." Thirteen remarked gravely, "More often than not, tragedy can only be truly prevented when a Hero is in the right place at the right time. When a Hero arrives after the fact, it is always to perform damage control, rather than prevention. This fact is made all the more obvious when you deal exclusively with disasters, like I do."

Mezo had not considered this, but it made a great deal of sense. He felt a momentary pang of pity for Thirteen but shook it off at once. Not only was this not the time or place, but Thirteen had made a conscious decision to be the type of Hero they were. Not only that, but the number of people they had saved by doing what they had was far greater than it would likely have been if they had chosen a different path.

A fundamental fact of being a Hero was that you would never be able to save everyone. You just had to save as many as you could.

"What should we do now, sensei?" he inquired.

"We shall remain here." Thirteen said firmly, "This Villain is dangerous and we should keep him under close watch in case he tries to escape or anyone tries to rescue him. Additionally, we should be here to inform whoever comes to assist us so they can immediately go where they are most needed. Your Quirk should be quite useful in this regard."

Shoji nodded and resumed radar duty while Thirteen went to inform the others of the plan.

From what Mezo could tell, the Villains were getting their collective asses handed to them for the most part. The only exceptions, as far as he could tell, were the Flood Zone, where the Villains had apparently lost contact with their target and the Downpour Zone, which he could not see into. A massive ice pillar in the Landslide Zone in particular spoke volumes about what became of _those_ unfortunate souls.

Then there was the plaza, where Aizawa was currently tearing through the Villains as though they were tissue paper with two notable exceptions. Namely, the Villain with the hands and his hulking, deformed bodyguard with the exposed brain. The pair of them had not moved an inch since this whole situation started…

…And Shoji didn't like it.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

In the midst of howling winds and pelting rain, a shadow was running wild, spreading wrack and ruin to any and all who opposed him. His yellow eyes glowed with menace as his body, equal parts tangible and intangible, seemed to be both completely impenetrable and utterly unstoppable.

Fumikage Tokoyami could have done without all the rain, but other than that he was in his element. He and Dark Shadow could see better in the low-light conditions than many of the Villains who were stationed here and his Dark attire combined with Dark Shadow's dark…everything made ambush tactics the order of the day.

Koda was following him at a respectable distance so as not to alert any enemies. He had taken a couple down himself with his surprisingly powerful frame, but he was a pacifist at heart and left the major combat to the Darknamic Duo, which suited Dark Shadow just fine. He was having a blast.

" **Come on! Who's next?! That can't be all of them, can it?"**

"Actually, it may very well be. I can't imagine they would have sent too terribly many of them into a place such as this and we have already dispatched at least ten."

" **Don't forget that one I beaned with a rock."**

"Eleven then. I'm still not completely sure that didn't kill him."

" **He's** _ **fine**_ **. Well, no, he probably has a concussion, but he's** _ **fine**_ **."**

Fumikage felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Koda, who was attempting to pantomime something to him…

…A door?

"Koda-san, are you asking if one of us knows the way to the exit?"

A thumbs-up accompanied by rapid nodding.

"…I must admit that I do not. Dark Shadow, did you notice anything of the sort while you were scouting for targets?"

" **Fuck if I know. I was focused on finding more prey."**

"…So none of us knows the way out."

" **Seems that way, yeah."**

Koda shrugged.

…This could be a problem.

* * *

 **We didn't get to the big stuff in this chapter, but we still got some scenes that I enjoyed. I feel like everything has been set up for next time.**

 **Kurogiri is locked down! How will this change things? For the better, I would think. It should be obvious that he isn't out of the picture for good, since he's such an integral character and almost everything the League of Villains does wouldn't be possible without him, but it will at least change the events of USJ in a significant way.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	15. Chapter 15: Heroes Are Delusional

**We're really getting into it now. This was another chapter that surprised me in more ways than one.**

 **Review time:**

 **otakuficwriter: I honestly hadn't read that chapter just yet, though I have now. I was just listing off the top four Heroes. That thing with Hawks is pretty neat though. I'm glad that you like the interactions. "Quips" actually isn't a typo. A quip is "a witty remark." She was talking about how he was verbally reaming the Villains. Good looking out though.**

 **I did enjoy the Shoto and Tooru scene. I enjoy any Shoto scene pretty much by default, but this was just good fun.**

 **IIRC, while the fact that Iida is Class President is occasionally brought up in canon, people don't really call him Prez and nobody ever calls Momo Vice-Prez. This definitely bothered me because of course they'd call them that. Shoji paying attention definitely comes into play this chapter. The thing with Koda, as I understand it, is just him being super shy to the point of not being able to talk. He gets better with this over time, as canon shows us.**

 **the_narr_master (had to replace dots since FFN was being silly): Thank you! I like that idea about Kurogiri getting marked up if he escapes. I'll use it if that happens. I will also be doing my best to make things not feel contrived or incidental.**

 **I actually have a reason for why Izuku can't one-shot Nomu, and I'll be going over that in the post-chapter Author's Notes. Thank you for your support!**

 **emmathehalf-bloodhunter: Thank you! I hope you enjoy!**

 **RandomDude: I agree that it was a bit of a wind-up chapter. I still had fun with it, but we're getting more serious in this one for sure.**

 **The ships (most of them) are still up in the air at this point, so who knows what could happen? I'm just writing what feels natural and seeing what happens. I do like their chemistry though. I feel like they compliment each other. Good point about the press too. Better publicity will certainly not be a bad thing.**

 **141: Thank you! I will confirm that you are correct. As for the M rating, it's mainly for safety purposes so I can write whatever I want without fear. For me at least, the line between T/PG-13 and M/R has always been rather blurry. I've researched it a few times but damned if I understand it beyond the point of "you can only say 'fuck' in a non-sexual sense, you can't show graphic dismemberment, and you better not show a nipple."**

 **As for my update schedule, the promise that I made when I started is a minimum of one chapter every two weeks. So far it's been a chapter every week and I intend to keep at that when it's possible. The two-week thing is just a safety net in case something comes up or I get writer's block. As of last chapter, my updates will exclusively be posted on Sundays for the sake of keeping things consistent.**

 **No worries about not being a critic. I love each and every review I get so don't let that discourage you! I hope you enjoy!**

 **origamishishou: Probably because they don't want to promote that behavior/because it's expensive to keep destroying the set. I agree that it's more often than not a much more viable solution than popular media makes it out to be. If you're talking about Iida opening the door instead of breaking it, it's a hell of a door. Maybe he wasn't sure he could do it or he's just that much of a good boy?**

 **The 0bservanc3: I post from the Eastern Time Zone US (UTC -5:00) and I pretty much posted that right after I got up at like 7:34 in the morning or something, since everything was already done. Probably do something similar with this one depending on what time I wake up.**

 **Someone's been looking at my notes again. One of these times I'mma catch you. I will say that this was how I planned it out from the very beginning (the first thing, not the second thing). As for Izuku's fire-eating, he does indeed have a maximum capacity, and I meant to say that he filled up his tank. His capacity will increase over time (Quirks are physical abilities too, after all). Right now, being at maximum capacity is what allows him to fire off 100% OFA attacks. One of these is equivalent to a full tank atm. Obviously he can also use more smaller attacks. There will be more uses for his fuel in the future though (*cough*Full Cowl*cough*).**

 **I do like the teams. As for the Todoroki+Hagakure team, that's exactly what I did. I kept that bit as in canon but actually had her _do_ something. What an idea! Plus she's just fun. Honestly, she probably hasn't thought too much about this since she's just so used to it being the way it is. You are 100% correct on this being how Mirio's costume works and it is totally something the Support Department could do if she asked. She probably will at some point once something like you suggested actually happens and/or a classmate feels the need to bring it up.**

 **You know, he could have done that. I probably _would_ have done that too after you mentioned it, but I already have a plan for that particular reveal and it's tied together with what I think is a really emotional moment.**

 **Denki was admiring the destructive power of her Quirk, not ogling her. He's got a bit more sense than that. He can ogle later. I will certainly be addressing all of this...next chapter! Didn't get to it in this one.**

 **The single biggest difference in that chapter for sure was the fight vs Kurogiri. I'm pleased with how it turned out and I'm glad you are too. Thirteen needs more love and all Mina did in canon was kneel next to Thirteen and cry when All Might showed up. Everyone contributes! One of the reasons I thinned out those numbers was because I thought there were just too many of them left behind in canon. Removing Ochako from the equation really changed things.**

 **You are indeed correct. The more powerful Dark Shadow becomes, the more difficult he becomes to control. As long as Tokoyami keeps a level head and a strong will, he can at the very least always stop DS if he tries to go on a rampage. My version, at least, does have a will of his own and that does come into play occasionally.**

 **Jack Redhawke: Welcome! Thank you for the reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying it. The main reason I didn't go into more detail on the reactions was because I was afraid it would break the flow. I think you'll be pleased with the ship. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

 **Ezylryb: Thank you! I sure will!**

 **Aguion12: I enjoy writing them. There's just so much untapped potential in canon! I'd say it's a meta example of CM,HB since in this story we haven't exactly seen him go full Derp Mode just yet, but the fandom all knows about it. As for CMoA? For sure. That's the feeling I was going for. It was like that in canon too but I wanted to really drive it home. This Denki is definitely being influenced by the idea that Authority Equals Asskicking, but he's still prone to a Heroic Red Ring of Death (albeit a temporary one) when he goes all-out.**

 **Hektols: Thank you. I wanted it to be different for sure. As for Hagakure, I sort of address this in my response to** **The 0bservanc3 up there. TL;DR version: She totally could have her own costume if she actually thought to ask about it. She just hasn't yet for whatever reason.**

 **Kurogiri being held captive will definitely change things. I'm not so sure that Thirteen could defeat Nomu though. For sure he could if he could get him to stand still, but with his speed combined with his regen, I imagine it playing out kind of like this: "Black Ho-"*FISTED***

 **GoldenMouse7: Thank you! That was one of the things I wanted to do differently in this story. I don't want to gloss over too many things since I believe that everything can and should be different to at least some extent. Even when the major events happen similarly, I can still re-flavor or expand on it.**

 **Kiomori: Thank you! I have a lot of fun with all of my banter (it's one of my favorite things to write) and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Boggie445: It wouldn't be Izuku if he didn't end up with scars of some sort. I don't currently have one planned for his face, but you never know.**

 **ScarletCatnip: I'm glad that people don't think I'm taking Shoto's personality differences too far. I really enjoy adding little things like this to him. Hell yes he did. Denki is going to take being Class President seriously.**

 **FaeryMage: Thank you! I definitely wanted to make sure everyone got their moment in the spotlight. I enjoy writing Tokoyami and Dark Shadow for that reason in particular. They're their own comedic duo! I hope you enjoy!**

 **Twain apprentice: Hopefully this is a typo and you meant "has" rather than "had." If it's not though, and you do mean that, please tell me where you think I went wrong. I'm genuinely interested to know since every piece of input helps me to improve.**

 **StarDustGaster: Thank you! I have fun with him.**

 **Xperior: Damn right.**

 **Alright, now let's get into it!**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Heroes Are Delusional

Eijiro Kirishima lashed out with his arm, clotheslining another Villain that had been trying to get past him and causing him to flip over and hit the ground gagging.

The Villains had been getting more frustrating to deal with after he had taken the first few down and it was honestly starting to annoy him. At first, they had all charged him head-on like real men! And women! And whatever the hell that one thing was! It had been really invigorating, so of course he had met their charge with the full force of his burning manly passion!

…It turned out their bark was worse than their bite, especially against his Hardening. They had started to try and avoid him when it became obvious that their manliness couldn't compare to his own. Didn't they know that the only way to strengthen yourself was to run straight at your problems and take your lumps?! Muscles only got stronger after they were torn! Bones that healed from minor fractures became even stronger than they were before!

"Come _on_! You guys are all going down with just one or two hits! I bet you've never really tried to get stronger in your lives, have you?! Have you ever pushed yourselves to accomplish _anything_?!"

"Shut the fuck up!" one of the Villains he had taken down first, a thin man that had spikes coming out of his head and forearms, was struggling to stand up, a look of anger and disgust on his face, "What the hell do _you_ know?! Someone like you who was born with such an ideal Quirk doesn't get to talk about struggling! I bet you've just been able to accomplish whatever you wanted by firing up your Quirk and bulldozing your way through!" he cocked his arm back and suddenly the spikes on his forearm all jutted forward, "Take your insincere preaching and your double-standards and GO TO HELL!"

The Villain's fist smacked against Eijiro's hardened chest and he let out a cry of pain as rivulets of blood ran down his arm from the broken remains of the spines that had splintered on contact.

"You can't possibly know what it's like!" he was young, Eijiro realized. He couldn't have been more than a year or two older than himself, "You can't possibly know what it's like to watch while the lucky few get ahead just by flaunting the gifts they were born with! How could I compete with that?! When I got better, they got better too! When I came up with a new trick, they came up with an even better one! _What else could I have done?!_ " there was a small puddle of red on the ground by this point. The young man was yelling into Eijiro's face, eyes wide and pleading, desperately searching for something.

"You're wrong. Dead wrong." Eijiro put a hand on the young man's shoulder, "I know what you mean. I know _exactly_ what you mean. I've been there. I've lived that. And you know what? I'm still here. You want to know how? You want to know what I did?"

"I…" Eijiro refused to think too much about whether those were tears he saw or not.

"I did everything you said, except I did it _harder._ " he put his other hand on the opposite shoulder, "I worked myself half to death. I strengthened my body and my Quirk every day and I didn't stop. I _still_ haven't stopped, because you're right: no matter what you do, everyone else will keep getting better. All that means is that you need to match them step for step and never give up. That's what it means to be manly."

He then wrenched the young man forwards and bashed his skull against the Villain's spiky forehead, snapping off a few more spikes in the process.

"I feel you, bro, but right now I need you to take a nap. Think about what I said while you sleep off that headache."

Great. Now he felt bad. He needed something to get him heated back up again before-

* **FWOOM** *

The fire in front of him suddenly lurched forwards and bathed his upper body in an inferno for a few seconds before dissipating as suddenly as it had started.

"Sorry, Kirishima-san! I didn't have any more stored up and there was no time!"

"All good! No worries!" hell, that was exactly what he had needed. Sure, it wasn't exactly pleasant, but it didn't hurt either. Midoriya had been spitting the occasional fireball, but apparently he had run dry at some point. He had probably been dealing with more Villains than before while Eijiro had been distracted. He needed to get his head back in the game!

As he looked around for his next opponent, Eijiro realized that they had taken care of every Villain in the immediate area. To his surprise, he also saw a pair of unconscious figures over by Aoyama. Seemed like the sparkly boy could dish out some punishment after all.

"Alright," Midoriya had drawn level with Eijiro and quickly eaten some fire, presumably to top off his reserves. Eijiro could honestly say that he would never get tired of watching the guy do that, "we should get going. We need to get back to the plaza and meet up with everyone else. Eraserhead is probably dealing with those Villains by himself if nobody else has gotten back yet."

The man with the plan. That was Midoriya. He didn't let his mind wander for even a moment. He was a lot like Bakugo that way. Honestly, it was a tough vote on Eijiro's part. He ended up going with Bakugo, but it was a close thing.

"I'm with ya, Vice-Prez. No worries there."

"Oui," Aoyama had caught up with them and was looking better than he had before, apparently having recovered from his earlier blast, "lead on, Midoriya-san."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

A kick to the head that undoubtedly cracked the skull. An elbow to the chest that probably snapped a couple of ribs. A strike to the face that resulted in a poor-man's rhinoplasty. A stray caltrop that had permanently reduced the unfortunate victim's depth perception.

The way his most recent target had landed with limbs oddly splayed after he had reflexively smashed his elbow into the base of their skull.

Eraserhead had no doubt that more than one of his opponents wouldn't be getting back up after all was said and done. It wasn't the first time he had taken a life in the line of duty and he certainly wasn't about to lose his lunch like the first time it had happened, but it still left a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach when he felt the telltale snap of a broken spine.

It was a common misconception that Heroes never killed. After all, killing was inherently bad and they were supposed to be the good guys, right? It was a logical argument, but the world was as illogical as it was unfair.

The reality of the situation was that, while Heroes never killed, or even maimed, whenever they could help it, they were still human and prone to mistakes and miscalculations. There would also be the occasional Villain that _just refused to stay down_. What was a Hero supposed to do when they lacked the ability to restrain or otherwise incapacitate a Villain who was steadfastly set on inflicting as much harm as possible?

Damage control. Same as always. When one weighed the lives of dozens, if not hundreds of innocents against those of the ones trying to do them harm, then logic dictated the correct decision immediately.

If he was given the opportunity to do it all again, then most of his body count would remain exactly the way it was and Shota wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but in the end it didn't matter; what was done was done and he refused to regret it.

Eraserhead saw another Villain gearing up for a Quirk-based attack and activated his Quirk to negate it, feeling his hair stand on end as it always did when he activated it. He had been trying to use his Quirk sparingly, knowing that his activation time would eventually suffer, but there was only so much he could do when he was so far out of his element. Midoriya had been correct when he said that group battles were decidedly _not_ his forte.

"Hey there, Eraserhead. Can I shake your hand?" the thin Villain with the disembodied hands clinging onto him who Eraserhead assumed was the Villain's boss had decided to join the fray.

And he was _fast_.

Eraserhead didn't know what his Quirk was, but it was obviously related to his hands from the way he was trying to grab him.

"Did you know?" the wily bastard was evading his attacks by forcing him to redirect them away from his hands. Nothing for it; he would have to erase his Quirk and take him down quickly.

Eraserhead launched into a complex series of moves involving his capture tape, fists, and the occasional leg sweep to keep the Villain guessing. He landed a few blows, but they were inconsequential. Whenever the Villain was forced to choose between dodging a strike or avoiding the tape, he always chose the tape without hesitation.

"I've been a fan of yours for a while, Eraserhead. Never seen you up-close, of course, but compared to a lot of other Heroes, you're pretty cool. Sneaky. Cunning. Violent when you need to be. You could almost be mistaken for an Antihero, don't you think? You're like that party member that only joins halfway through the game after you've beaten him into the ground a few times. Those guys are always the coolest."

What the hell was he talking about? Shut up and go down already! His time was almost up…

"Sorry, I'm rambling. What I meant to say was that I've noticed something about you, Eraser: every so often your hair falls down around your face again, usually after you finish a combo attack or take down an opponent. It reminds me of how some characters have a Battle Form that drains their mana or somesuch. In a drawn-out battle, you have to be careful how you use power-ups like that, you know?"

"What about it?!" Eraserhead found himself responding as he launched into what would be his final "safe" attack in this chain, trying to tag his opponent with his capture tape one more time before he had to disengage.

There, he had grabbed it instead of dodging this time! Eraserhead jerked the tape backwards, yanking the Villain towards him as he simultaneously dashed forward, intending to plant his elbow into his opponent's solar plexus in what would hopefully be a fight-ending move.

As his hair fell back down around his face, he knew that the blow hadn't landed correctly. The Villain had anticipated him and had caught his elbow in one of his hands.

"Oh, right. When push comes to shove, you tend to rely on your elbows to deal the most damage to some vital point or other. It makes sense, but it also means there's only a few moves I really need to watch out for. And since I had a front-row seat to watch you take out so many of my lackeys…well, you get the idea."

Pain. An instantaneous, burning pain that felt like it was working its way deeper and deeper into his elbow.

"You should be careful not to overdo it, Eraserhead. You've clearly used up all of your dailies. You might have one or two more encounter abilities left, but that's a stretch. And now you're bloodied. Couple that with the attack debuff I just gave you and I'd say you're just about done."

Eraserhead punched him across the face with his free left hand and sent him to the ground.

"None of that matters as long as I can take you down first. Once the leader drops, there won't be anyone to give the minions instructions anymore and morale will plummet."

"* **cough** * Ah, an attack of opportunity. I saved against the attempted stun, but still got hit with knockdown… I hate abilities like that. Still, you failed your Sense Motive check, Eraserhead: I might be the leader, but I'm not the final boss."

"SENSEI! DODGE!" a voice suddenly rang out from the top of the stairs leading to the entrance. Eraserhead vaguely registered it as belonging to Shoji before his reflexes kicked in and he leapt as far backwards as he could.

Good thing he did too, since a large, black hand had just planted itself into the ground where he had just been, creating a small crater.

It was the goliath with the elongated face and exposed brain. If Shoji hadn't warned him, Eraserhead had no doubt that he would have been taken out right then and there. For something that big to move that quickly and cause that much damage so casually…it reminded him of All Might…

"Meet the Anti-Symbol of Peace: the bio-engineered Nomu."

…And that thought sent chills down Shota's spine.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"I'm going to ask you one more time: How are guys as weak as you supposed to defeat All Might?"

"Go fuck yourself, kid. You might be able to shove an icicle up my ass, but at least you can't force me to watch my junk get disintegrated."

"For the love of god _stop giving him ideas_!"

This had more or less been how Shoto Todoroki's interrogation had gone so far. He had started by pointing out that he could easily give the Villains frostbite if he wanted to but had been countered by the fact that frostbite was still preferable to being disintegrated crotch-first. The Villain seemed to have some unusual fixation on that particular punishment.

Shoto had been starting to get annoyed, but Hagakure had come up with an idea that promised to inflict psychological damage, since physical threats weren't getting him anywhere. He had probably given her enough time by now to get into position.

"I have to admit, you have a point there. Looks like I'll have to take off the kid gloves and reveal to you what my Quirk _really_ is."

At this, he snapped his fingers and the second Villain's head snapped to the side with a loud smacking sound.

"What the fuck?! How did you do that?!"

Another snap, another slap from seemingly nowhere. Harder this time.

"You see, I don't control ice as my Quirk. I stop time."

"…What."

* **Snap** * * **Crack** * Ouch. She must have used the back of her hand that time.

"Like I said: I can stop and start time whenever the hell I want. I decided that I had nothing better to do, so I just went and got a shitload of liquid nitrogen from somewhere and used it to freeze everything. You'd be amazed what they keep in the Support Department."

"You're bluffing! How could a kid like you have so much power?!"

* **Snap Snap** * * **Thwap Thwap** * Apparently, she had graduated to punches at this point.

"Well, while I may _physically_ be a kid, mentally I'm more like sixty-nine. Or was that ninety-six? You tend to lose track of time when it's not currently running. I've honestly done just about everything you could imagine. By the time my body was four and my mind was twenty, I had decided that the best use of my abilities was just screwing with people and making them think my Quirk was something completely different. They all bought it too. I've had practice, you see. Took a while to figure out how to turn it off."

"I…you…gah…"

"So let me put this in a way you can understand:" he snapped his fingers with his _left_ hand this time and the Villain he had been talking to was abruptly poked with something cold and sharp, "You can tell me what I want to know, or I can do everything you've suggested so far all at once. _Before you've even realized it's happened_."

The scream that echoed throughout the Landslide Zone was immediately followed by a stream of information that left Shoto slightly more disturbed than he had banked on.

One thing was clear to him as he knocked the Villains unconscious and thawed enough of the ice that they wouldn't get frostbite: he needed to get to the Plaza ASAP.

"Hagakure, you've been helpful, but I think you should head for the entrance while I head for the Plaza. Tell everyone what we've learned and hope that it's not too late."

"Be careful, Todo."

"Yeah. You too."

As they made a break for their respective destinations, she on foot and him skating along on a pathway of ice, a thought occurred to Shoto:

When had he said it was okay for her to call him that?!

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Eraserhead was in trouble, and that was the understatement of the year. He was completely on the defensive, just trying to avoid Nomu long enough to come up with some kind of plan.

The problem was, nothing was coming to him. Speed, strength, agility, endurance, and even a Quirk that seemed to nullify impacts from the one time he had managed to land a kidney punch before nearly getting his head taken off. This monstrosity had him outclassed in every conceivable way except for intelligence, and a hell of a lot of good _that_ was doing him right now.

The worst part of it was that, apart from the impact nullification, none of this seemed to be from a Quirk. Eraserhead had tried erasing his Quirk more than once, but it didn't slow down or weaken Nomu at all. He was as powerful as All Might with _just his base abilities_.

To top all of this off, his stamina was starting to fade. Eraserhead honestly didn't know if it was possible for him to be any more screwed. Hell, he couldn't even _run_ because of the speed difference. He'd make it maybe twenty feet before he got pasted.

The only thing left to do was go for the kill and hope for the best, which was what he had been preparing to do for the past few moments. He had wrapped his left hand in several layers of capture tape and used a couple more layers to fasten a few caltrops to his fist in a set of hastily-constructed spiked knuckles. He would only get one shot at this. Fortunately, his target was so big it would be hard to miss.

When Nomu charged him again, Eraserhead knew it was now or never. Activating his Quirk one last time in the hopes that it would do _something_ , Shota leapt over the hand that was trying to crush him and brought his spiked fist around in a spinning, full-body hook which drove itself, with a sickening squelch, into Nomu's right eye.

Shota wasn't foolish enough to stop and admire his handywork, instead continuing his spin and tearing what was left of the orb from its ruined socket and taking a few chunks of brain with him for good measure. He then proceeded to charge the Villain with the hands again, intending to take him down while he was still too shocked to react.

Then a massive impact which rocked him to his core sent him flying forwards into the nearby fountain, all breath knocked from his lungs and feeling like a few ribs were cracked. Shota barely managed to prop himself up just in time to see Nomu looming over him with his previously-destroyed eyeball growing back like nothing had happened.

"I know I said you were cool before, Eraserhead," the leader sauntered over to stand next to Nomu, "but seriously, that was on another level! I had no idea you still had a limit break like that! Was that Power Attack, Vital Strike, and an improvised weapon that lets you deal piercing damage? Did you dip a level in spellcasting so you could get True Strike? Did you stack Sneak Attack onto that somehow, or was it just a crit? You'll have to tell me later if you're still alive. You probably won't be though, since Nomu gets cranky after he uses his regeneration. Oh well."

That…that was just plain illogical. Shota had verified that Nomu's Quirk was impact nullification when he had punched him and felt like nothing had happened, yet he had just demonstrated regeneration as well! Did this mean he had two Quirks? More? This was…impossible.

Shota didn't have much more opportunity to dwell on this as he was lifted out of the fountain, had his arm nearly ripped out of its socket along with being broken, and then got introduced face-first to the ground. A violent kick that finished off what was left of his ribs sent him skidding along the ground, eventually fetching up against a conveniently-located large rock.

He felt the ground trembling as the bio-engineered monstrosity walked towards him, and he felt his consciousness fading fast. At least he wouldn't have to feel it as he was systematically beaten to death.

He hoped that his colleagues would show up soon. Now that he was down, that was one less thing keeping his kids safe.

 _Damn it…_

"…sei!"

 _Oh great. Now I'm hallucinating._

"Sensei! Hold on!"

 _Mi…dori…ya?_

Then there was a sudden blast of cold, and Shota knew no more.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

He shouldn't have waited.

That wasn't true. He had made the correct decision.

But it wasn't the _right_ one!

These thoughts and more warred within Izuku Midoriya's head as he, Kirishima and Aoyama ran across the plaza towards their downed teacher, desperate to prevent his imminent demise.

When his group had found themselves with a clear view of the plaza, Eraserhead had already been engaged in combat with the Hand Villain. Kirishima had wanted to charge straight in, but Izuku had stopped him, citing a lack of information. They would observe either until they knew what they were getting into, or until it seemed like Eraserhead was in trouble.

They had gained some valuable information about how the leader fought, as well as what his Quirk seemed to be. Izuku felt that if they could get the drop on him, they could probably take him out.

Then the other one had entered the fray. Everything had gone downhill from there. It was like something out of a bad dream for Izuku, watching such an immensely powerful enemy completely overwhelm Eraserhead and knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop it. Even Kirishima could only crouch next to him with balled fists and gritted teeth. Aoyama for his part looked as though he were desperately scanning the battlefield for any chance to fire off a helpful shot, but he could find none.

There had been a brief moment when Izuku had felt hope. Eraserhead had gambled everything on one final attack that looked as though it had been successful, along with being rather gory.

But the monster had acted as though it hadn't even noticed.

Izuku gave the command then. The situation had become unsalvageable for Eraserhead alone. He didn't know exactly what they could do, but they had to do _something_.

The monster was heading for Eraserhead at a sedate pace after it had violently kicked him across the plaza. He was closer to the stairs than before, about halfway to them, but it wouldn't do any good unless they could immobilize or distract the creature.

"Sensei! Hold on!" it was all he could think to do. The only worthwhile distraction he could think to make. He knew a fireball wouldn't do enough damage unless he incapacitated himself for it, and he couldn't risk that until Eraserhead was in the clear.

"Giant Ice Wall!"

Todoroki's voice rang out across the battlefield just as a colossal wall of ice materialized from the ground itself and completely engulfed both the monster and the Hand Villain.

This was their chance.

"Run! Get to Eraserhead and get him up the stairs!" Izuku shouted to his teammates as they all dashed forwards. He wasn't naïve enough to think the battle was over, but hopefully Todoroki had bought them enough time to get Eraserhead out of there.

As they drew close, Izuku saw the full extent of the damage and internally cringed. Eraserhead was a mess.

"Wait!" just as Izuku and Kirishima were about to pick their teacher up, Todoroki slid to a stop nearby and created a slab of ice underneath him, "Okay, go! That should help make sure you don't injure him more!"

With a nod of thanks, Kirishima took one end while Izuku took the other. They jogged to the steps and began their ascent as quickly as they could without jostling Eraserhead overly much. Aoyama and Todoroki helped to stabilize the slab.

They had gotten about a quarter of the way up the steps when the wall of ice abruptly exploded, accompanied by an inhuman bellow.

"Aoyama-san, switch!" Izuku had made his decision before he was even conscious of thinking about it, "You all keep going! I'll hold them off for as long as I can!"

"Don't be stupid, Midoriya! I'll just freeze them again!" Todoroki protested.

"It won't work! The only reason it held them for that long the first time is because they didn't see it coming! This is the only option unless you want all of us to die for nothing!"

Aoyama had taken his post at this point and was being uncharacteristically quiet. Todoroki had his teeth gritted but seemed to have accepted his argument.

"There has to be something else!"

"Kirishima-san, _this is not the time_! GO!" and with that, Izuku leapt back down the stairs.

The Hand Villain was charging with the monster a few feet to one side keeping pace with him. Izuku knew both of them were fast but seeing them heading straight for him really put things in perspective.

 _Okay, Izuku. You know there's only one thing you can do at this point, so there's no sense in thinking about it too much. Just…take a deep breath._

He couldn't expect the Nevada Smash to do the job, not when half of its power would be absorbed by the monster if what he had guessed about its Quirk from its fight with Eraserhead was accurate. In fact, _any_ physical attack was next to worthless. He would only get one shot at full-power and he needed it to count.

That only left his new move.

Izuku inhaled, filling his lungs with life-giving air. He couldn't count on a clean hit against the monster. He would aim for the Hand Villain. The creature seemed to obey him so hopefully it would also protect him. If not…

…if not, then Izuku could only pray that he would live long enough to be called a murderer.

They were nearly upon him now. This was the moment. He opened the floodgates and tongues of flame escaped the corners of his mouth, eager for release.

"CHICAGO FIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE!"

Izuku drew out his shout and used it to direct the sudden torrent of flames that spewed from his throat, spreading out into an all-consuming tidal wave from hell. He heard a scream over the roaring inferno but could not tell if it was the Villain's or his own. Maybe it was both.

The pain. Dear god the _pain_. It felt like his torso was being crushed within a gigantic fist and he tasted iron.

But he kept going. He kept going until all of his flames were spent and the last of his breath had left his body.

As the flames dissipated, Izuku looked upon what he had wrought.

As he had hoped, the monster had moved to protect its master. Its charred and smoking body was standing in front of its untouched leader, arms crossed in front of its face as if to shield it from the flames.

"Haah…you little bastard. That was a good one, I have to admit. Must've built up your overcharge meter while fighting the mooks, right? I should've thought of that. You never know what you might be able to accomplish with that last little bit of XP before the boss. But lemme let you in on a secret: you FUCKED it up!" he punctuated this last statement by kicking the creature's body over, causing a few inches of carbonized flesh and muscle to crumble away as it hit the ground.

That was when Izuku saw that its face was mostly untouched and its eyes were still alive.

Then it started to regenerate.

 _Damn it…my attack was too rushed…too unfocused…all I managed to do was slow it down!_

It hurt to breathe and he was having trouble taking more than a shallow breath. It felt like all of the energy had been sapped from his body.

 _Keep standing. Have to keep standing. Have to stop them._

Tired.

 _Don't care._

Hurting.

 _Don't care._

Empty.

 _Don't care._

Gonna die.

…

Gonna die.

… _Doesn't matter._

All Might.

 _I'm sorry. I won't be able to carry your legacy._

Mom.

 _I'm sorry. I don't want to leave you alone._

Kacchan.

 _I'm sorry…I was supposed to be there for you…_

Iida. Kirishima. Kaminari. Everyone.

 _I'm sorry…I'm so sorry!_

Uraraka.

… _That's not fair._

 _That's not fair…at all…_

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"What the fuck was that?!"

"I don't know!"

"Come on, we need to get over there! With that much ice, it has to be Todoroki-san, right? He must be fighting!" this was the only conclusion that Ochako Uraraka could come up with.

This made it all the more disturbing when the massive wall of ice suddenly shattered all at once and she heard a distinctly inhuman roar.

"Don't stop to think about it! We're almost there!" Bakugo was doing his best to keep them focused.

They had only recently come up with the idea of roof-hopping to save time. Thus, they found themselves on the roof of a collapsed building overlooking the plaza just in time to see Deku spew out an incredibly huge amount of fire.

But the creature Ochako had seen before was regenerating. It was going to get up soon. Worse still, the Hand Villain looked unhurt.

But neither of those things compared to what she saw when she looked at Deku.

He was standing, but he was _still_. So unnaturally _still_. His arms were limp at his sides, his legs were trembling with the effort of keeping him upright, and his face was blank.

"Uraraka! Zero-Gravity NOW!" Bakugo's voice brought her back to her senses and she immediately turned him and Ojiro weightless. Once she had done that, Bakugo quickly belted through his plan.

Ojiro launched them with his tail while Bakugo turned on the afterburners with his explosions. The trio shot across the plaza at an incredible speed and by the time Ochako released her Quirk and then reapplied it to herself, the monstrous Villain was just regaining its feet.

"DIE!" Bakugo cut loose with one of his super-explosions to create a distraction and provide some cover while Ojiro dashed towards Deku, intending to take him and run.

Ochako, for her part, released her Quirk again and fell towards the creature, arms outstretched.

Bakugo's plan was a simple one: He would create a distraction for Ochako to use Zero Gravity on the monster so he could blow it away with his other super-explosion, hopefully taking the Hand Villain out in the process. Ojiro would take Deku and bail, with Bakugo and Ochako following suit ASAP.

It seemed like a good plan, and it was working so far.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm quite good at Quick-Time Events as well."

That is, until the smoke cleared and Ochako found herself plummeting directly towards the Hand Villain, who had interposed himself between her and her intended target, hand outstretched.

"Ribbit!" * **SMACK** *

A long tongue struck the Hand Villain across the face and shoved him out of the way, allowing Ochako to touch the monster with one hand just before said tongue wrapped around her waist and retracted, dragging her to the frog girl who had the best timing in the world.

* **BOOOOM** *

A second super-explosion went off and sent the monster flying. Ochako quickly deactivated her Quirk when she felt the strain brought on by excessive distance building up. The repeated use and release on both others and herself probably wasn't helping either.

"Rrrgh! NOMU!" the Hand Villain bellowed, which was followed moments later by a response in the form of the same inhuman cry from earlier.

Ochako didn't stick around to see what happened next. She followed the plan and dragged Tsuyu by the hand up the stairs, hot on Bakugo's heels.

"Oh no you don't! Get back here so I can turn you to du-" * **THOOOM** *

The abrupt noise and subsequent door that went flying over everyone's heads demanded their silence, while the voice that boomed over the landscape shortly thereafter demanded their attention.

"FEAR NOT! FOR I AM HERE!"

As she reached the top of the stairs, Ochako saw a sight that brought tears of relief to her eyes just as it sent a shiver down her spine.

There was Ojiro, holding Deku in his arms. He looked even worse up-close. Bakugo was there as well, his hands half-raised and trembling and his face screwed up in an expression that seemed halfway between rage and grief.

Mina was there, seemingly keeping the Mist Villain pinned to the ground by his metallic neck brace while Sero and Sato kept watch for any funny business.

Aizawa-sensei was there. Bloodied and beaten on a melting slab of ice while Todoroki, Aoyama and Kirishima tended to him as best they could.

Shoji was standing some distance to one side, keeping watch on the field from his vantage point at the top of the stairs.

Thirteen was hurriedly giving All Might a status report, covering only the bare essentials as quickly as they could while Iida stood at attention by All Might's side, waiting for instructions.

The one thing that really struck her, however, was the expression on All Might's face.

He was not smiling.

All Might was angry. Truly angry.

"You have all done so well. So very incredibly well. I cannot give you all the praise that you deserve right now, so please be patient until we are done here. I promise I shall shower you with praise afterwards and everybody will get an 'A' for the day." All Might tore the tie from his neck, not even bothering to loosen it first.

"Todoroki, my boy, I ask you to gently ice Midoriya's ribs. I fear they are all cracked, if not worse. We must try to prevent any swelling until we can get him to Recovery Girl. Try to make him as comfortable as possible until then."

"What about Eraserhead?" Todoroki asked.

"You have done as much for him as can currently be done. Simply ensure that the slab of ice does not melt away and keep his torso and arm cool."

"All…Might…" Deku's voice was barely more than a whisper, but All Might was immediately kneeling down to better listen to him from where he was still being held in Ojiro's arms, Todoroki already starting to apply a film of ice to his chest, "big one…impact resistance…regeneration…strong…be careful…"

"Yes, my boy. I promise. You get some rest now. Everything will be All Might."

Did Ochako imagine the large fingers brushing some of Deku's hair out of the way before All Might stood back up? Must have.

"Excuse me, my students." All Might began to descend the stairs, "I have some business to take care of."

The Hand Villain had not moved. If anything, he had taken a couple of steps back since All Might's arrival.

"Rrgh! Kurogiri! Where the hell are you?!"

"Tomura Shigaraki-nngh!" an audible sizzle came from the Mist Villain, who was apparently the one the Hand Villain, Shigaraki, had been referring to.

"You stay quiet!" Mina's voice had a venom in it that Ochako had never heard before, "You don't move or speak unless I say you can!"

"You got yourself captured? Seriously? No…no this wasn't part of the plan!"

"Villain," All Might was halfway down the stairs at this point, "I understand that you have been looking for me and that you intended to lure me here with the promise of dead students. It would appear that your plan was half-successful. Fifty percent is still an 'F' however. I'm afraid I'll have to assign some remedial lessons at the local correctional facility."

"You think my plan has failed, All Might?! So what if RNG wasn't in my favor today?! My ace is so over-levelled and specced-out that it doesn't matter! NOMU! BOSS FIGHT!"

A familiar massive black shape shot out from the nearby Ruins Zone with a roar and headed straight for All Might. The Symbol of Peace was ready and met its massive fist with his own, creating a shockwave so intense that Ochako and Tsuyu were forced away from the stairs by the air pressure. Shoji managed to stand his ground, as did Thirteen, though it was a near thing for both of them.

"Ribbit, I think we'll have to settle for a secondhand account of the fight."

"Yeah, I think you're right, Tsuyu-chan. Let's go see if we can help the others. Thanks for earlier, by the way."

"It was nothing."

Ochako and Tsuyu headed for where Deku was currently laying on the ground. He had what looked like a thin, translucent vest that Ochako realized was made of ice.

"Wow, Todo, you're really handy huh?" apparently Tooru was there too.

"Please don't call me that."

"But it's cute!"

"That makes it worse."

"I wonder what the story is there?" Tsuyu stage-whispered to Ochako, who simply shrugged.

"How's he doing?" she asked. Todoroki responded immediately, grateful for the change of subject.

"Honestly, not great. I felt a little bit of the damage while I was icing him and, well…it's bad. We should count ourselves lucky that he doesn't have a punctured lung. If All Might hadn't suggested that I keep the swelling down, or if he had fallen over…" Ochako's heart sank as she understood the implications. Deku's stubborn, self-sacrificing determination had, ironically, been the thing to save his life.

"What can we do for him?"

"Well, All Might did say that we should try to keep him comfortable, right?" Tooru chimed in, "I'd say he's probably pretty uncomfortable laying there on the ground. If we could at least prop him up or give him some kind of pillow, that would help, right?"

"What are you suggesting?" Bakugo finally spoke, his voice strained.

"Well, there's not really anything around, so why don't we put him on someone's lap? One of the girls, obviously, since you boys are all too rugged for this kind of thing."

"Ribbit, who did you have in mind?"

"It can't be Yaomomo or Kyoka, since they're not here. It can't be Mina, since she's on guard duty. It can't be me either, since, well…"

"Say no more." Ojiro interjected helpfully, "That leaves Asui-san or Uraraka-san."

"Ribbit, I guess I wouldn't mind. Here, someone prop him up and- oh. I guess that solves that."

The problem was indeed solved, as Deku's head and shoulders were already propped up on Ochako's lap, Bakugo having helped get him in position. They hadn't even said anything to each other; a shared glance and a nod was all that was needed.

"Okay, I know we're doing this for medical reasons and everything but that's adorable. Somebody snap a picture." Tooru just couldn't help herself.

"Damn you! Stop saying such distracting things while I'm supposed to not be distracted!" Mina whined from where she was performing the incredibly important task of keeping Kurogiri locked down.

"Geez, this atmosphere's fucked up." Bakugo muttered from where he was sitting cross-legged a couple of feet away from Ochako and Deku.

"I know what you mean." Todoroki agreed as he stood up and walked over to Aizawa to check on him.

Ochako, for her part, simply made a noncommittal noise of assent. Her attention was on Deku right then. His face said that he was in pain and his breaths were so shallow that she could barely feel them.

He must have known.

He must have known when he used that attack that something like this would happen. He must have felt his body tearing itself apart while he was using it, but he kept going anyway.

Could she have done that?

If she had been in his place, could she have powered on through, regardless of the risk to herself?

Ochako didn't have an answer to that, so she kept watch over Deku and tried not to cry.

If Bakugo could manage it, then so could she. So Ochako endured as the thunderous sounds of All Might's battle against Nomu echoed in the background.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Mezo Shoji knew that he was bearing witness to a once-in-a-lifetime battle. He was also bearing witness to his classmates as they cared for Aizawa and Deku while simultaneously keeping an incredibly dangerous Villain tied down.

He was witnessing a lot of very important things right now, in other words.

"You can go to them, you know." Thirteen said, not unkindly.

"No." Mezo shook his head, not at all concerned about breaking his line of sight thanks to the two tentacleyes he currently had augmenting his vision on the fight in front of him, "I will remain here. I am the one best suited to the task of taking this all in so I can accurately report on it later. There is precious little that I could do right now that is not already being done by everyone else."

"You have a very mature outlook for a boy your age. It is commendable."

"Thank you, Sensei."

"Alright you two, get out of my way." Tomura Shigaraki was standing at the bottom of the stairs, having managed to get away from the fight that had made its way to the other side of the plaza at this point, "You've got my ticket out of here up there somewhere, so I'm willing to make you a deal: You give him back to me and I'll let you all live. All Might is the only one we really came here to kill anyway." Thirteen popped the cap off of their right index finger and pointed it towards Shigaraki.

"You think that I will allow you to pass after you so brazenly threatened to kill my charges?! I may not be a fighter, Shigaraki, but I am no fool! If you take so much as a step towards us, you will feel the full power of my Black Hole!"

"You would destroy your own facility, Thirteen? After all of the resource grinding you did to build it?"

"USJ can be rebuilt. You cannot. Do the math."

"Oh, I've done the math, Hero." Shigaraki responded, hands held out to either side as if he was making some grand reveal, "In fact, your statement just now proves that I'm right! Tell me, would you ever _dream_ of saying such a thing to a civilian or another Hero? Of course you wouldn't! Your karma meter would drop all the way down if you even considered it! You of all people who professes to protect life and never do violence to another! Would you break your vow so easily? Would you go against your very own philosophy just because of little old me?"

Shigaraki started pacing back and forth at the bottom of the stairs, not drawing any closer.

"Don't think I'm singling you out here, Thirteen. You're not even the worst! Heroes like All Might who actively _thrive_ on violence and bloodshed, now _those_ are the ones that are the worst! Think about it: Heroes and Villains both thrive on violence just the same but somehow one is classified as 'good' while the other is 'evil'. What kind of sense does that make? Using violence in the name of preventing more violence? Fighting fire with fire? The Symbol of Peace is nothing more than a tool of violence who just so happens to side with the popular opinion!"

"And the whole time, the Heroes keep spouting the same old lines! 'We try to keep the damage to a minimum.' 'Every life lost is a tragedy.' 'Our Quirks are meant to protect the peace and uphold the law.' Bunch of hypocrites! Every last one of them! Do you know what the real difference between Heroes and Villains is, Thirteen?"

Here, Shigaraki stared up at Thirteen and Mezo, so that they could see his eyes from between the fingers of the detached hand that was gripping his face.

"Heroes spend every day trying to be something that they aren't, telling whatever lies they need to as long as they can be in the right. Villains don't harbor any illusions like that. We know what we are and we own up to it. We _accept_ the truth instead of hiding behind our precious little lies! _Heroes are delusional, Thirteen_! _That's_ the difference!"

* * *

 **I really like how that speech turned out. I tried to make him feel more like an actual Villain with ideals (even if they are a bit shallow) instead of just a kid that's spouting off stuff that his teacher told him once. Let me know if you think I succeeded.**

 **Now, here's my reasoning as to why Izuku can't just one-shot Nomu:**

 **In canon, Endeavor fights against a Nomu that has similar regenerative capabilities during the Hosu incident. In order to shut down it's regen completely and kill it, he has to resort to using blue fire to carbonize all of the cells in its head. He accomplishes this by condensing his regular fire and feeding it more and more energy until it's hot enough for the job. When he hits the Nomu with his regular flames, it shrugs them off and regenerates.**

 **My belief is that this particular technique requires more skill and finesse than Izuku currently possesses. He has a hard time controlling his flames when he's only using 10%, let alone 100%. This is not to say that he _couldn't_ do it; with enough time and training, there is no reason why Izuku wouldn't be able to perform similar feats, but he's just not there yet. He doesn't focus his flames so much as he just kind of sprays them everywhere when operating above a certain level of power. Destructive for sure, but ill-suited for a job like this.**

 **Hopefully this helps to explain why I handled this the way that I did. Izuku's power progression is, after all, about him learning to control OFA.**

 **Next time we see the All Might vs Nomu fight (you didn't think I was going to skip it, did you?) and Momo and Kyoka's reactions to seeing their Class Prez go full Derp for the first time.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**

 **Also, I just saw this when I was about to post the chapter. We broke 500 Followers! Holy crap!**


	16. Chapter 16: Scoring a Continue

**I don't have any particular pre-chapter stuff to say other than the usual ravings about how awesome you guys are, so...**

 **You guys are awesome!**

 **Review time:**

 **otakuficwriter: No worries. I never really cared about spoilers. I'll actually read the entire Tropes page on something if I'm on the fence about it XD**

 **Thank you for this praise. I re-wrote that a few times before I was satisfied and I'm glad that I was able to evoke these sorts of emotions.**

 **We will get a bit of expansion on that this chapter, but I will say that Stain and Shigaraki will still be different on a fundamental level despite sharing some similarities. Shigaraki was referring to the fact that All Might is very well-known for beating down Villains, even though he is also very well-known for saving people.**

 **I appreciate that you take the time to review each chapter as you have been. (Same for everyone who takes the time to do so!) Every time I get a review notification it makes my day just a little bit better, so thank you!**

 **I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **ScarletCatnip: Thank you! The Nomu fight was another one that I really wanted to do justice. He plays a really huge part in showing us what high-tier Villains can be capable of (albeit vicariously) and I felt like it was important to drive home how threatening he really is. Same for Shigaraki of course.**

 **I really wanted Shigaraki to become a character that I enjoy writing, so I went all-out on his gimmick. I'm glad to know that people are enjoying him! As for Jiro, well, we'll see her in this chapter! (You're right though.)**

 **the_narr_master: You bet! I like delving into stuff like that.**

 **Thank you! I felt like we were due for a "heavier" chapter, and I'm glad this delivered. To be considered among the best you have read thus far is an honor and I hope I can maintain it. I do agree that a significant advantage of prose vs. manga is that you have more space to flesh characters out. Good thing that's what I enjoy doing!**

 **I like jumping between POV's partially because I find it so easy to do. Maybe that says something about my mental state? Ah well. Rest assured that the events of USJ will resonate strongly with Shoto and certainly play a part in his character arc. He will definitely have some thinking to do.**

 **Thank you again and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Tombs456: Thank you! I am happy with how Shigaraki turned out and I'm hoping to do more with him. Character interactions are without question my favorite part of writing, so I'm glad you are enjoying them! Hopefully this chapter lives up to the hype!**

 **origamishishou: I do enjoy writing me some fluff. The timestop came totally out of nowhere and I just had too much fun with it. They might have to remember that one. As for Kurogiri, probably something along the lines of "You fools! You foolish fools!" but we'll get to that this chapter.**

 **RandomDude: No worries dude, it's not a contest. Thank you though!**

 **I'm glad you liked the part with Kirishima and I did feel like it was time to really show what Eraserhead is capable of. I enjoyed writing Shigaraki as well and look forward to doing more with him.**

 **I wanted to do something to directly compare our Izuku to canon Izuku, and I figured his showdown against Nomu was a good way to do that. He managed to do more against him, but arguably landed himself in a worse situation than in canon. Fortunately Big Damn Heroes is a trope that was made for MHA!**

 **As for Shoji, despite his incredible strength and high combat potential, I do believe that his true worth lies in his sensory abilities and his overall mindset. He is very well-suited to being a witness and can make just about any team he is a part of better in some way. He's comparable to Tsuyu in that manner, now that I think about it.**

 **As for the bad guys, well, you'll see this chapter. I will say that I have had this particular chain of events planned since I started my notes for USJ.**

 **Being able to record memories would indeed be the absolute perfect Quirk for a member of the police or a detective or what have you. I might actually use that. I totally agree that it would provide a mixed bag of good and bad if the real truth got out, so it wouldn't feel like just a quick fix. It'd be balanced.**

 **I'm honestly seriously beginning to consider this ship and these ideas are excellent. Regarding Todoroki (either one) Quirk synergy with Izuku, this kind of thing will totally happen at some point. It's too perfect of a setup for it not to.**

 **Thank you for the suggestions, and i hope you enjoy!**

 **Gako959: Thank you! Hmm...interesting thought. I would say that rather than maintaining Deku's Quirk in its entirety, it would gain (in addition to the usual power-up, of course) something along the lines of heat resistance or somesuch. Perhaps there would be some other factor regarding expending fuel in some way to gain a power boost (enhanced metabolism to weaponize Shonen Eating Habits perhaps).**

 **I'm glad you like Shigaraki and he will of course develop over time. The karma meter could be a reference to a couple of things but INfamous is certainly the most well-known. Interesting point about the taste of fire Quirks as well. It makes a lot of sense that the user's state would impact the flavor.**

 **I certainly will and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **The 0bservanc3: Thank you! It is entertaining for me as well to see what people are able to guess.**

 **Eijiro does have a lot of similarities to Elfman. Honestly I see him as the logical extreme of the character archetype with his own spin on things. I'm glad that you enjoy my style. I tried to get as far into a character's head as I could without making it first-person, and this was what I came up with.**

 **The Quirk issue is a HUGE theme in MHA so I certainly wanted to tackle it. I'm also a fan of giving Villains their say, so this worked out as a good starting point. For sure Eijiro is the Determinator when it comes to self-improvement. His pre-UA time is actually pretty identical to canon, just presented a little differently.**

 **It would be interesting to bring back Spike (that's his name now. Creative I know). Hell, both of these suggestions are good so I'll most likely end up going with one of them.**

 **I thought that getting into Aizawa's head would be a great time for a little dose of reality. I totally believe that his time as a Hero and the things he has had to do have changed him, and not always for the better. That's just how life is, especially a life like that. As for Anti-Hero...I think it makes an incredible amount of sense. We have everything else so why on earth not? Actually-OH SHIT. I just got hit with an idea.**

 **What if an Anti-Hero is a Villain who was rehabilitated and became a Hero? That must have happened at least a few times, right? And it carries the added bonus of the fact that the stigma of having once been a Villain never quite leaves them. I'm going to have to think on that.**

 **Would you believe I didn't even know what "Ludology" meant until I looked it up? I was just a Game Art/Game Design major in college so it's a mindset that I can just slip into. It's why you'll see me refer to things in terms of "balance" and whatnot, like it was a game. Regarding Shigaraki, I totally think that he must have received at least _some_ form of combat training from AFO. It'd be stupid for him not to have done, especially with a close-range Quirk like his. As for the hand...I forgot. I was too caught up in making him nerd out XD**

 **I had too much fun with the Timestop scene. As for the Nomu thing, I'll talk about that in the post-chapter A/N since I want to go into a bit of detail on that.**

 **Izuku is totally beating himself up for not being able to make everything turn out alright. He expects way too much of himself and it's something that will be revisited eventually. For Chicago Fire, he took in as much air as possible, and then compressed the ever-loving hell out of his diaphragm and other chest muscles. Since it's possible to crack a rib just by coughing too hard, well...let's just say that it's a good thing he stayed standing when he did and that everybody is being _super_ gentle with him right now.**

 **I actually had to look up DeKoven to know what you were talking about. That would have been neat, but even if I had known I probably would have kept it as Chicago Fire since that's just so much more well-known (and, IMO, rolls off the tongue more nicely). Pursing his lips would have indeed focused the attack better. It also might have given him his own special "wanna know how I got these scars?" story. He needs to fine-tune his control a bit more before he can handle something like that.**

 **Katsuki is indeed a battlefield genius. I actually say as much in an earlier chapter. Something along the lines of "he may be a tactical genius with his Quirk, but Deku was a tactical genius with _any_ Quirk." A lot of people don't give him enough credit for how intelligent he is or how incredible his instincts are in a pinch.**

 **I'll go into Zero Gravity in the post-chapter A/N as well.**

 **Well, All Might _does_ end up having to resort to a "Teaching for Dummies" book. As for Kurogiri, Mina actually burned through his plate and hit skin. Whatever his skin looks like. I'll have to think on how to properly express acid burns on a primarily amorphous body.**

 **I'm not sure if I'd say it's part of Mezo's Quirk per-se or just an adaptation his brain was forced to make as he grew up and developed his Quirk. Either way it is most certainly impressive. Especially when you start throwing multiple ears into the mix. As for Thirteen/Mezo's reaction to the speech, this chapter will tell all! Along with Jamming Whey! And where Mineta went! (You're basically correct on what he did).**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **Kiomori: Thank you! I definitely want to portray him as dangerous and a legitimate threat to our Heroes. The Timestop story was a spur-of-the-moment thing that I had entirely too much fun with. For sure all the help that Todoroki can give them is very much needed until Recovery Girl can kiss them better.**

 **DarkxKitsune15: Thank you! This means a lot and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **bhennen: For sure his argument is flawed and you can bet that Thirteen will call him out on it. Hopefully this chapter helps improve your opinion of him somewhat (from a Villain standpoint anyway). I love that webcomic. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Markus-Antonius: Thank you! I wanted him to have at least one fire-breathing type attack as an homage to his father (and everyone's favorite Dragonslayer Mage).**

 **Now, onto the chapter and your regularly-scheduled All Might vs Nomu fight, already in progress.**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Scoring a Continue

A thunderous clash of fists. A narrow escape from the clutching fingers that sought to crush his very bones. The off-putting feeling of his counterattack slamming into his opponent's flesh, yet not reverberating with the satisfying impact of a blow well-struck.

Indeed, All Might felt as though his attacks were being resisted to an unnatural degree, precisely as young Midoriya had warned him. Were it not for this heads-up, he might have been surprised enough for Nomu's retaliatory grapple attempt to work, but it was not to be.

This was not the first opponent that All Might had ever faced whom he could not simply take down with a single blow; his career as a Hero had been long and eventful, especially in his prime before his reputation had begun to truly proceed him. In that time, he had faced numerous opponents with Quirks as varied as their appearances. No two were ever precisely alike and amongst the hundreds, nay, _thousands_ of opponents that he had faced, there had been more than one who had been able to stand against him as a worthy foe.

One in particular had stood out from all of the others, but All Might tried not to think about _him_ too much. Even the barest brush with those memories made his blood boil and his ruined body throb with remembered pain. Deep pain of the kind that left one feeling hollow in its wake.

A shame that he was forced to remember every time he looked in a mirror or scratched his chest. Every time he got a little too excited or laughed a little too hard. Every time he tried to take a deep breath and let it all just…fade.

The anger was with him even now. Indeed, it was far stronger than he could remember it being in recent memory. The reason was clear to Toshinori Yagi: these Villains had threatened his students, incapacitated one of his comrades, and even driven his protégé to nearly sacrifice himself to buy what precious little time he could.

Seeing his broken form, hearing his weakened voice, feeling his clammy forehead, smelling the telltale scent of char and knowing all too well the kind of desperation his successor must have felt…

…Toshinori knew where the lion's share of his rage came from and it only served to throw more fuel onto the fire.

"I do not know whether or not you can understand me, Villain, nor do I believe you would be inclined to listen if you could, but even so I feel that I must express something to you: You have committed what I consider to be an unforgivable act here today. Moreso than my duty as a Hero, beyond what is expected of me as the Symbol of Peace, and deeper than the flame that yet burns within me, I shall fight against you with everything that I have. Your well-being shall be none of my concern, so for your sake I hope that your regeneration can keep up."

The next punch was different. It was as though his words had removed some unseen shackles that had restricted his movements before. As Nomu slid several feet backwards, surprised but overall unharmed, All Might realized what had changed:

He had stopped worrying.

When fighting against another living being, All Might had always needed to be careful to avoid fatally injuring them or causing unnecessary collateral damage to buildings or civilians in the area. To compensate for this reality, he had, over time, built up certain mental restrictions for his Quirk. He was aware of them, of course, but some were so seldom removed that they became second-nature to him. The last time he had truly gone all-out had been when he had fought his true Archenemy and emerged forever changed as a result.

This opponent was not one he was concerned about killing. He needed to be stopped quickly and decisively no matter what it took.

So, as his foe roared and charged him once more, All Might allowed One For All to flood his body unrestricted. As he brought Nomu's head crashing into his knee and hurled him through the air with a twisting wrench that would have torn the head off of any lesser being, All Might saw a set of telltale ghostly flickers in the corner of his eye.

He knew what they were and though he truly wished to turn and look, just so he could see her face one more time, he knew in his heart that there was no point. She, just like the other six, was nothing more than an imprint left behind when she had passed on the torch. A fragment of soul that served as phantasmal proof that Nana Shimura was once a wielder of One For All.

Would young Midoriya even be able to see her face, or would she appear as all of the others did to him, as a black silhouette? As violent winds whipped through All Might's hair while he closed with his target, he found this thought to be almost unbearably sad.

 _Getting sentimental as I get older, am I? It really has been too long since I've delved this deeply into One For All if it is affecting me this much. Perhaps I should start training again?_

Having reached Nomu, All Might seized him by the wrist with both hands and began spinning as quickly as he was able, feeling the bones begin to crack under his iron grip before he hurled him towards the ground, following after with a momentum-assisted double-fist focused upwards.

"OKLAHOMA…NEW HAMPSHIRE…SMASH!"

The two impacts happened so closely together that onlookers could be forgiven for thinking that they were a single event. Nomu's body, while still dealing with the impact that had just created a sizeable crater in the ground of the plaza, was suddenly and violently subjected to the force of All Might's considerable mass crashing into him like a meteorite.

Shock Absorption, while an extremely powerful Quirk on its own, was not enough to nullify such mighty impacts coming from opposite sides simultaneously. Nomu's familiar roar became a shrieking gurgle as a glob of gore was forcefully ejected from his mouth.

Under any other circumstances, All Might would have called the fight right then and there. Having heard accounts of the creature's incredible regenerative capabilities, however, he knew better than to assume that he had won. He elected to flip himself onto his knees to straddle Nomu's back and begin excavating a new lake via ground-and-pound.

Later, when he had time to reflect on the events of the day, Toshinori would be glad that none of his students had been able to see him as he was then: an embodiment of fury doing everything in his power to viciously render his opponent into paste.

That regeneration sure was something though. More than once it had seemed as though Nomu was about to throw him off, but he had been able to keep him grounded by making sure to keep his shoulders as pulverized as possible. Along with his spine. Just generally every part of the beast that his countless punches rained down upon.

Eventually, after a solid three minutes of non-stop pummeling moving at speeds that the human eye had difficulty following, All Might needed a breather. He leapt out of the basin that he had created, hoping that Nomu wasn't about to get up and follow him out like nothing had happened.

Fortunately for All Might, Quirks were physical abilities and were therefore subjected to limitations. Having part of his brain carved out, being mostly incinerated, being blasted across USJ via Zero-Gravity Explosion Express, then having his ass kicked literally through the ground by arguably the most physically powerful man in the country, if not the world, for three straight minutes was apparently Nomu's limit. All Might watched warily as his opponent's body convulsed and twisted itself back into shape, but the eyes that bulged out of the exposed brain were dull and lifeless. The fact of the regeneration was all of the proof All Might required of his condition, however.

"After all that…still alive. In my prime there wouldn't have been a single soul that could have survived that. I really am getting weaker, huh?"

 _Whatever the case, I doubt I have more than a few minutes left in my Muscle Form for today. I need to see to it that this monster is restrained before he can recover!_

Toshinori swore to himself that he would not make the same mistake he had made that morning ever again. He had only meant to help with that one incident but then it had turned into another…and another…and another. Before he knew it, he had spent nearly all of his transformation time just helping people on his morning commute!

It was like young Midoriya had said: being a Hero was about more than just his personal desires. He wanted to help everyone he came across, but his responsibilities to his students needed to take precedence now. Had he been able to accompany them like he was originally supposed to, the situation would have never escalated as much as it had and his protégé would never have been injured so badly.

He would apologize once this was all over. He wanted to apologize to all of his students, but he could not rightfully do that without revealing his secret. He would have to redouble his efforts as recompense instead.

But, first things first. His co-workers should be arriving at any moment and they would have the situation well in-hand when they did. All Might needed to find some cover so he could un-transform and save his precious remaining minutes for when he needed them most.

Then a scream of despair tore through the air and sent him reflexively leaping in its direction.

 _That sounded like Ashido! What could have happened now?!_

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Shigaraki's words seemed to linger in the air for an unnatural length of time after he had finished his speech. He had spoken with a combination of conviction and fervor that demanded the attention of those who heard him. In many ways, to the ears of Mezo Shoji it sounded like the speech of a trained orator.

Mainly, it came across as trained because something felt _off_ about it. A person who was skilled enough in speechcraft would come across as nothing but genuine. One could not tell the difference between the work of a master and the heartfelt ravings of a zealot off of the streets save for the fact that the master would garner a much larger following. He would always know exactly what to say to plant the correct thoughts in the heads of his audience. He could have you so thoroughly wrapped around his finger that you would propose his very plans and believe that they were your idea to begin with.

Tomura Shigaraki's words did not feel like this. Oh, he believed every single thing he said, of that Mezo had no doubt, but his heart wasn't in it. He was reciting that which had been taught to him, using those techniques that had been instilled in him, for the explicit purpose that the speech had been prepared for. It was well done, to be sure. Mezo would have to spend some time in meditation to clear the lingering taint out of the corners of his mind and the edges of his heart, but the fact still remained:

"Your words are hollow, Shigaraki-san."

It was very difficult to talk circles around a man who could hear you from multiple angles at once.

"What was that?" this was clearly not the reaction that the Villain had been expecting.

"It is as the boy said, Villain." Thirteen responded in Mezo's stead, giving him a brief pat of approval on one of his many shoulders, "You want to break things down and discuss them at a fundamental level? Very well. It may be true that there are Heroes out there who naively aim to completely eradicate evil from the world and create a society in which nothing bad ever happens to anyone. There are Heroes who shrug off the collateral damage they cause because they believe themselves to be above such things due to their righteousness. There are, as much as I am loathe to consider it, Heroes who only care about pandering to public opinion so that they can make money and feel vindicated."

"However," here Thirteen cut off Shigaraki just as he was about to respond, "at least Heroes are genuinely attempting to improve the world in one way or another, at least for the most part. We are all human and subject to the same flaws and weaknesses as everyone else, but we can still do our best to be just a little bit better! To help just a little bit more! To show people that, even if it's just a little bit, that they can make a difference! We don't have to be what nature has made us, Villain, and _that_ is what your kind has so much difficulty understanding!"

An incredible impact from the far side of the plaza sent a cloud of debris into the air and caused the ground beneath their feet to vibrate. The thunderous report of superhuman combat became a constant thrumming in the air.

"No. We really can't." there was genuine sadness in Shigaraki's voice, though Mezo was unsure if anyone else could hear it, "There have always been people who have said things like this all throughout history. Philosophers, activists, saints, idealists, the list goes on. There have been so many people who were touched by pretty words and noble actions…and the last thing all of them saw was the same world they were born into, just with some upgraded graphics and a pretty little list of patch notes."

"Do you get what I'm saying here, Hero? If humanity hasn't changed after thousands of years, then what makes you think that some people running around in costumes with superpowers is going to do anything? You may have added another game mode, even changed the meta around a bit, but the title on the splash screen is still 'Welcome to Life: the Fuck You Edition.' I don't know about you, Thirteen, but if I have to be stuck in a world like that anyway, then I may as well try to wake as many people up as possible!"

"People _are_ waking up, Shigaraki!" Thirteen was getting caught up in the passion of the argument, and Mezo could not deny that he was too, "Do you have any idea how many talented individuals apply to Hero Courses each and every year?! U.A. applications alone number in the _thousands_! Then you have post-educational courses, police training, medical school, public works, civil servants, _infrastructure for chrissakes!_ Now, more than _any_ other point in recorded history, people are stepping up with a genuine determination to _do good_! They've seen with their own eyes what just one person can accomplish if they try and they've been inspired! Even you must have thought at some point, 'I saw so-and-so do such-and-such thing, so maybe I could be capable of that too?' What made you become a Villain, if not for the fact that you saw someone else succeed at it in some capacity?!"

"I was saved."

"What?"

Mezo understood Thirteen's confusion. The answer was so transparently honest that it had thrown him for a loop, especially when one considered that usually such an event inspired one to become a _Hero_.

"Oh, not by one of you." Shigaraki clarified, "You all left me to rot. I was saved by a Villain who just so happened to be passing by."

"You were indoctrinated then. You chose this life because it was all you had ever known."

"Pfft!" Shigaraki had to take a moment to recover from the seemingly involuntary exclamation of laughter, "As if! No, he kept things open-ended the entire time. I could have chosen whatever sort of future I wanted. I stuck around and eventually things…just started to make sense. I started to understand the world in ways that I hadn't before. With his help, I was finally able to see the bigger picture! For example, do you hear that?"

Nothing. Silence.

The sounds of All Might's fight with Nomu had ceased. The battle was over.

"I'd say that means that it's just about time to wrap things up here, wouldn't you? NOMU! COME TO ME!"

Mezo tensed. Did Shigaraki have some way of knowing that Nomu had won? Even with the extra pair of eyes scanning the field, he had lost track of things after the pair had slammed into the ground.

The silence was maintained.

There was no answering bellow like there had been before. No black shape hurtling through the air towards them.

"No…" Shigaraki had seemingly realized what this meant at the same time as Mezo, "No! That's…that's not possible! He was created for the sole purpose of killing All Might! NOMU! COME HERE! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Your monster will not be coming to your aid, Villain." Thirteen stated, "All Might has emerged victorious. Your plans end here."

"Woo-hoo! That's right you gropey-looking freakshow! You got your ass handed to yo-"

"ASHIDO, NO!"

For just a brief moment, Mezo had been distracted.

For just a brief moment, Ashido's constant surveillance of their captured foe had wavered.

For just a brief moment, everyone's attention was elsewhere.

And if the sudden flood of black mist around Shigaraki was any indication, it had cost them dearly.

"Shit!" Mezo saw Ashido's incredible reflexes in action as her arm whipped around like a snake, spraying acid at the warping Kurogiri. There was a sizzling noise and a growl of pain, but he was already too far gone.

"Well, looks like I scored a continue. See you all at the next session."

"No! Black Hole!" Thirteen engaged their Quirk in a final act of desperation, but only succeeded in taking in the last fading dregs of black mist from where Shigaraki had just been standing.

"No! NO! GOD DAMNIT NO!" Ashido's screams rent the air before her voice cracked and she broke down completely, sinking to her knees just as Asui rushed to her side to try and comfort her.

"What has happened?!" All Might crash-landed in the middle of the staircase, iconic hair whipping around wildly as he frantically searched for the source of his student's distress, "Is someone else injured?! Where are the Villains?!"

"I'm sorry!" Ashido sobbed, "All Might, it was all my fault!"

"No." Shoji interjected, "I am also to blame."

"I am sure you can be forgiven, but please tell me what has happened!"

As Thirteen relayed the events to All Might, Mezo felt a sudden chill run down his spine as things started to click into place.

Why had Shigaraki been so quick to comply with Thirteen's demands? Why had he been so eager to engage him in conversation? Why make such a production out of it?

To stall for time.

 _We were played! All he needed was to distract us enough to give Kurogiri just a moment to escape! He was probably preparing for it the whole time, using his body as cover while he prepared a portal on the ground!_

And they had fallen for it.

"Excuse me, Senseis," Mezo said as he walked towards a nearby cluster of trees and bushes, "I think I am going to be sick."

Mezo was, indeed, sick.

He did end up finding out where Mineta had gone, though.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Wheeeyyy~"

"Ah! Prez, get back here! I know you're feeling a little Psychedelic right now but you can't just go wandering off like that!"

"Whey?"

"That's right. Stay by me and Yaomomo."

"Derp."

This was the situation that Kyoka Jiro found herself in and the sudden turn in Kaminari's personality was giving her whiplash.

He had been so cool just a little bit ago. Yaoyorozu had managed to generate an insulating sheet big enough to cover the pair of them completely (destroying the upper half of her costume in the process), so she hadn't actually _seen_ the big attack itself, but she was sure the pyrotechnics on it had been top-notch. Kaminari was the type to go all-out on stuff like that.

And the way he had charged those baddies like that? Sick. Guy looked like the world's most badass bouncer charging straight into a mosh pit with his baton and everything. Even now, when he was all beaten up and apparently had his brain fried by his Quirk or something (mental note: let him have it for that later) he was still giving the thumbs-up and walking around with a big, goofy grin on his face.

Unfortunately, Yaoyorozu had not yet finished creating a new costume for herself, so he got an eyeful of what she was working with. So did Kyoka and she _was_ impressed, but leaping in front of her classmate to protect her modesty came first.

She wasn't completely sure if the Class President had completely processed what he had seen, given his current state of…derpy-ness, but she held onto the hope that he wouldn't remember when he recovered.

…He _was_ going to recover, right? This wasn't permanent? That would suck. She should check.

"Hey, Prez?"

"Derp derp whey~" Kaminari was currently attempting to communicate something to Yaoyorozu, who had just finished changing into her new costume and was looking as pristine as ever.

"My apologies, President Kaminari. I am not sure what you are trying to tell me. Oh! I could make you some paper and a pen if you'd like? Would that help?"

"Oi, Kaminari?"

Was he ignoring her on purpose, or was he just running on base instinct right now and paying attention to Yaoyorozu because of her…femininity?

"Ah, Kaminari-san? I believe that Jiro-san would like to ask you something."

"Whey~"

"Damnit, Denki, turn your ass around!"

"Wh-derp?" for some reason Kaminari's head whipped around at that.

"Oh, so _now_ you can hear me? What, do I have to yell at you to get your attention when you're like this?"

That would bite. She didn't really like yelling. It hurt your vocal cords if you did it too much.

"Actually, Jiro-san, I have an idea I'd like to try."

"Huh? Sure, knock yourself out."

"President Kaminari?"

No response.

"Denki-san?"

"Whey?" he turned back around to face her.

 _Could it really be that simple?_

"Yo, Denki."

"Derp?" he turned around and looked at Kyoka.

"It would seem that when he is in this state, he only responds to his given name. I would imagine this is lingering conditioning from his childhood. No doubt his parents drilled the response into his head over the years with how often this must have happened while he was learning how to use his Quirk." Yaoyorozu rattled off with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Geez that girl was smart. Kyoka knew that but still, _damn_. She pitied whatever poor sap that thought he had a chance with _her_. Body like that with brains to match _and_ a Quirk that would let her create whatever she needed to beat your ass into the ground? You could go body-surfing on the endless stream of suitors she'd have.

Kyoka wasn't jealous or anything. Well, maybe of the smarts, but she didn't want to be popular in that way; it seemed like a pain. Like when your fans figure out where your tour bus is and decide to mob it or when some overzealous individuals manage to find their way backstage without passes and you have to kick them out but you don't want to because they just really, really wanted to meet you in person and what if they start something on social media or something talking about how horrible you are to your fans and it spirals out of control and becomes a huge celebrity dirt story and your career suffers from it until the day you disband but even then people won't stop giving you shit about it.

That kind of thing.

… _Jesus Christ, Kyoka, where'd that come from? Lay off the rave drugs._

"Whey?"

"Gah!"

While she had been off in la la land, Kaminari had gotten right up in her face without her noticing and was staring at her with his vacant gaze and stupid grin. Well, until she let out her exclamation of surprise, which he apparently took the wrong way because he was backing up and…cowering?

"Oh, oh no, you're okay! It's fine! You didn't do anything wrong."

"Whey…" oh he looked like a guilty puppy. That wasn't fair.

"Denki, you're fine. It's okay." she patted him on the head, "There there."

"Eyyy~" that seemed to have perked him back up. Maybe he was easier to deal with than she thought?

"I wouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion, girlie."

An unfamiliar voice suddenly emanated from the ground by her feet.

"As an electric type myself, I know how to avoid attacks like that. Now I've got you all right where I-AHHH!"

"Pulse-Pounding Powerslide!"

The rocky ground cracked and crumbled along the path of Kyoka's Special Move. She had plugged her jacks into her Stereo Boots and cut loose as she dropped into what she considered to be an on-point powerslide.

"Ow."

These rocks were a bitch on the knees though. Maybe she should consider getting some kneepads if she planned on using this move often? It might clash with her costume's design though. It wasn't like she was the front man or anything.

An image of Kaminari performing a powerslide while shooting lightning in all directions and throwing the horns with his cool-guy smile on made its way unbidden into Kyoka's mind.

… _Shit. That might actually make him a little_ too _cool. Probably shouldn't do that._

"Lightning President: Jamming Whey. Pfft."

There. Now she was back to not taking him seriously.

"Wheeeyyy~"

"If I might make a suggestion, perhaps we should go and see what that large impact was earlier? It seemed to be rather close by." Yaoyorozu was on top of things, as usual.

"Why now? I thought we were staying put because this cliff face means nobody can ambush us from behind?"

"Well, the ambush we were worried about just happened, even if it was shut down rather quickly. If there had been a group of Villains, then they would most likely have attacked all at once, so we can probably assume that there are no others in the immediate area."

"…Sure. Why not? Come on, Denki."

"Derp."

The impact and subsequent vibrations had, as it turned out, been the result of a fight if the unconscious…thing…laying at the bottom of the massive crater and surrounded by rust-stained rocks was any indication.

"Oh my," Yaoyorozu walked partway around to get a better angle, "to think that such a struggle was taking place just on the other side of our protective wall…who could have done this? For that matter, how is this poor creature still in one piece?"

"Hey, isn't that the thing that was with the Villains?" Kyoka chimed in, "Must have been one of ours then, right? Do you think that Midoriya could have done it? I don't think that Sato or Shoji would've had the stopping power and I'd have heard Bakugo's explosions.

"No, I do not believe so. For one there isn't any char from his fire anywhere nearby and for another I do not believe he could have caused this much destruction with only one or two attacks. From what he has shown us so far, it appears that using too much power at once causes him large amounts of physical harm. Perhaps if that were not the case…" the Creation Quirk user trailed off, apparently deep in thought.

"You know, you should try talking to him sometime." Kyoka suggested, "When you get all analytical like that you start to sound a bit like him when he goes on his rants about Quirks or tactics or whatever. Except you get quiet while he just keeps going. You'd probably get along."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Jiro-san, but I am not sure that Vice President Midoriya would be interested in me that way. Or vice-versa really."

"What are you talking about?! You're smoking hot! Not to mention he's probably one of the only guys in class that could actually carry on a conversation without you having to dumb it down a bit."

"Oh, do not misunderstand, I am sure that we will become very good friends before long and whoever he ends up with will be lucky to have him. He is just not my type. Simple as that."

"Oh? What _is_ your type, if you don't mind me asking?" Kyoka wasn't usually the gossipy type, but there are some topics that people just can't help but latch onto.

"Hmm…" Yaoyorozu took a moment to consider, "Well, you were correct about intelligence being important. I guess I'd like someone a bit more…classically masculine? It is a poor choice of words, but do you understand my meaning?"

"I think so. You're looking for someone a bit taller, not quite so innocent-looking, but still smart?"

"Well, I'm not actively looking for anyone at the moment, but that sounds accurate, yes."

"Hmm…Iida, Shoji, Todoroki or Bakugo, I guess."

"Bakugo-san?" Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Hey, if we're just talking 'classical masculinity' and intelligence, then he qualifies. I'm not sure if he's _technically_ taller than you, but his hair has to add at least a couple of inches."

"…Why are you trying to pair me off with someone?"

Why _was_ she trying to pair Momo off with somebody?

"Mental exercise?"

"That sounded like a question."

"I mean-"

"What if I were to turn your query back on you, Jiro-san? What is _your_ type, I wonder?"

When did this become about _her_?!

"Well, obviously they'd have to be cool. And that's subjective, so…"

"Nice try."

 _Note to self: do not try to out-think Yaomomo._

"Okay. Fine. I'm really into music, in case you couldn't tell, so that'd be a plus. Rock in particular. I don't think I could deal with anyone who was high-strung and stressed all the time. They'd need to know how to just chill for a minute, so that'd rule out anyone like, say, Iida. I'm honestly not all that into super-sappy romantic stuff either, so no Aoyama."

"Bakugo-san?"

"You _must_ be joking."

"You suggested him first."

"Fair enough. At least I didn't suggest freaking Mineta."

"Please do not joke about that."

"Whey?"

"Yeah, yeah, Denki. You're a good boy."

"Whey~"

Momo just rolled her eyes and smiled to herself.

"Oh, Yaomomo?"

"Yes, Jiro-san?"

"You can call me 'Kyoka' if you want."

"I will do that, Kyoka-chan. Thank you."

"Whey?"

"Getting a little ahead of ourselves aren't we, Denki?"

"Whey…"

* * *

 **I hope that Kurogiri and Shigaraki's escape was adequately explained and didn't seem like a Diabolus Ex Machina. I did have this planned from the moment I originally started to plan out the USJ arc, and I hope it doesn't rub too many people the wrong way. That and I hope you all enjoyed my take on the All Might vs Nomu fight. On that topic:**

 **The reason that Nomu didn't die when Aizawa took out a piece of his brain was partly to do with the fact that he took out the wrong/too small of a piece, and partly to do with the overall durability of Nomu's in general as we have seen. Most likely if he destroyed the brain stem then there would be no more regen. Unfortunately for him that's just about the only part of Nomu's brain that's actually _protected_.**

 **As for the Flying Nomu that Stain kills during the Hosu Incident, I don't actually think that one had regen. Reason being is that it still has the injury that Endeavor gave it when he speared it through the head with that flame javelin. Now, it is true (being explicitly stated/shown by Endeavor against a different Nomu) that carbonized cells cannot regenerate. It is _also_ shown that Endeavor's base-level flames (which the javelin appears to be made of) are not hot enough to completely carbonize Nomu cells, requiring him to resort to blue fire to do the trick.**

 **The reason I'm bringing this up is this: if I am correct that this particular Nomu did not have regen, then that means that it was flying around and kidnapping Deku _with a fucking hole in its head_ and not really seeming to care. We already know that Nomu's are not really entirely human anymore, even if their DNA is technically human. As their purpose is to serve as shock troops and killing machines, it makes sense that All For One made them more durable than any human on a base level, even without regen. This would serve the dual-purpose of making those _with_ regen (which at this point seems to just be the black Nomus, since the white ones die when they are killed) all the more difficult to truly slay.**

 **TL;DR: Nomus are fucking scary.**

 **Now, as for Zero Gravity:**

 **I think we can all agree that the idea that Ochako can simply throw any object (or person) that she has the power to render weightless into orbit at-will is, in a word, ridiculous. In another word, overpowered.**

 **My bible when it comes to balancing Quirks in Torchbearer comes from that one simple canon statement that I use over and over again: "Quirks are physical abilities too." This means that while Quirks can be trained and made more powerful, their potency will always have some sort of limit, even if that limit is not immediately apparent.**

 **If we assume that the wiki is accurate (which for the sake of argument, I am), then Ochako can float about 3 tons worth of materials before suffering negative effects. The exact number isn't as important as the idea that she has a limit. Now, during the canon entrance exams when she saves Deku from falling to his doom after destroying all but one of his limbs taking out the Zero, we see her floating on a large chunk of machinery that we could guess probably weighs somewhere in that range. Those of you who paid close attention may have noticed something interesting: once that machinery rose to a certain height, it stopped moving. Were it truly weightless and subjected to upwards momentum, then it would not have stopped until Ochako released her Quirk. How the hell she kept it floating there at the precise height she needed it to be is beyond my reasoning, but it does prove that Ochako has some sort of connection with the items she floats beyond simply being able to make them float and then stop floating.**

 **On a related note, making Deku weightless wouldn't actually have stopped him from hitting the ground, since the formula for momentum is p = mv, or momentum = mass * velocity. Weight is a non-factor here, and the amount of gravity or lack therof does not change an object's mass, since that would require the ability to create or destroy matter, which is impossible according to the law of conservation of mass.**

 **This leaves us with two possibilities:**

 **A) Ochako's Quirk is inaccurately named and she actually possesses some cocktail of physics-bending capabilities that allow her to freely adjust the weight, mass and/or momentum of any object she touches (effectively giving her psychic powers) up to a certain weight. While this does conform with the concept of Quirks being physical abilities due to the weight limit (which could conceivably be raised with time and training), it is also an incredibly difficult-to-balance power. Basically, if this version of Ochako touches you, it's all over. You no longer have any weight, mass, or effective momentum and can therefore not do anything except flail about ineffectively and say unkind things about her mother. Even your punches would have no effect since that's based on the transfer of physical energy via momentum. What's more, this Ochako could levitate you to the point where you pass out from lack of oxygen but don't quite die, release her Quirk, tag your unconscious body with it before you hit the ground and arrest all of your momentum, then tie you up and do whatever the hell she likes with you.**

 **At least she's on our side, one-hit-kill Quirk and all.**

 **B) This is the possibility that I am choosing to go with. Namely, Anime Logic. I think that the author simply decided to use Ochako's Quirk in conjunction with Rule of Cool or Secondary Powers as the Plot Demands and just wrote it in the most entertaining way possible while still keeping the general theme of it consistent. It's enough that most people probably won't question it too much (I certainly didn't until I started actually thinking about it), and MHA is an amazing Manga/Anime/whatever other adaptations they come out with in the future anyway, so everyone's happy and that's what matters.**

 **Except not here. Here we have _standards_ , damnit! I need my Quirks to make sense so that I can craft the best possible scenes with them while _keeping them consistent_. If done correctly, then most of the balancing is done _for_ me since _such Quirks would inherently be balanced to a certain degree_. They wouldn't change based on the situation at hand and would all be subject to the same relative rules and restrictions.**

 **So that means that I have effectively rejected canon Zero-Gravity and substituted my own. My version is very similar on the surface: It's activated via touch using the sensory pads on the tips of Ochako's fingers and released by her touching her fingers together and saying "Release!" The incantation may not be strictly necessary so much as it serves as a mnemonic device to trigger her release only when she wishes it instead of whenever she puts her fingers together, which could be inconvenient as she is a rather expressive individual.**

 **She also has the same current total weight limit of roughly three tons and suffers from nausea and/or vomiting if she goes too far over the limit or if she uses her Quirk on herself for any significant period of time. The MAIN DIFFERENCE here is that she well and truly ONLY effects an object's weight by negating the pull of gravity on it. That's it. No magical disappearing momentum or vanishing mass. Additionally, the further away she gets from such objects (or vice-versa), the greater the strain on her body becomes. This scales with the original weight of said object(s).**

 **Fun fact: this Quirk working the way it does is why Nomu kept moving even after she released him. His large amount of mass and incredible velocity from Bakugo's Super Explosion had given him a huge amount of momentum which, as we just clarified, her Quirk does nothing about. This also means that for an object of comparatively low weight, such as the ball from the Quirk Apprehension Test, she could theoretically cause it to go high enough to escape earth's gravitational pull (or at least go beyond the effective range of a simple distance detector) before she had to release it.**

 **Now, this still brings into question the issue of inertia, to which I say "Fuck if I know." My goal is to make this Quirk (indeed, all of my Quirks) make sense and be consistent on a basic, functional level for the purposes of my story (and anyone else's if they care to use these notes), which I believe I have now done.**

 **Do I believe she could increase her total capacity? Given the logic I have just presented, indeed I do.**

 **...And I thought this was going to be the easy one of the two. Goddamn XD**

 **Next time we will get to see the aftermath of USJ, which will involve time spent in the infirmary and lots of character interaction. Fun stuff!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	17. Chapter 17: Clear Skies, Expect Rain

**Torchbearer has officially surpassed 600 Followers and 200 Reviews! We're on page 4 (out of 264) of the MHA fics if you search by Follows, and page 3 if you search by Reviews! I cannot overstate how incredible this is! Thank you all!**

 **Review time:**

 **Not Stale Bread: I was actually introduced to this idea by Yesterday Upon The Stair by PitViperOfDoom, and have since then considered it to be canon. I had no idea it was actually confirmed by the author! That's great! I mean terrible! It's grerrible!**

 **thunderclap_sergant141(name edited due to ffnet being silly about the dot): Thank you! It might seem shorter since it only had like 3 POV shifts while my more recent chapters usually have more?**

 **Your thoughts on Zero-Gravity are very interesting and do make sense. I took the approach of trying to strike a balance that seems feasible while also not making it overly complex so I don't have to constantly stop and ask myself "can she do that?" As for your questions: 1) I actually have not seen the OVAs. I really need to do that. If I can think of a good way to include them/remember to do so, then I might do that. 2) I've certainly thought about this and I think he still will be. After all, Izuku will still have access to abundant flames thanks to the massive torches at the corners of the arena. Obviously, it won't be _exactly_ the same as canon though.**

 **No worries! Your review was insightful and I enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Johnny Spectre: I am legit happy that someone besides me thought to make this joke. Thank you.**

 **RandomDude: That's an interesting thought. I don't think there's any particular reason that Jamming Whey couldn't be trained to listen to different things, though his effectiveness as an attack dog would be limited since he can't use his Quirk while brain-fried. I'm not sure about him still responding when in his normal state, though if he did that would set up Inuyasha references like nothing else.**

 **You are totally correct about how Zero-Gravity would technically work in regards to Earth's rotation and whatnot. With stuff like this, unless you want to get really into the nitty-gritty, you can't really avoid having some level of Rule of Cool. This is how I imagine her sending things flying works as well, since she can just apply force to it during/after applying her Quirk. There are certainly ways to work around it, but the sheer strategic possibilities it presents, as well as the fact that she is extremely good at getting it off post-Gunhead training, still makes her a force to be reckoned with IMHO.**

 **The idea that Pro Heroes have a sort of brotherhood between them is something that I absolutely agree with. Real brother-in-arms type stuff. You can bet that, once All Might knows the whole story about what went down, he will have mad respect for Eraserhead (if he didn't already).**

 **I'm glad that the debate was able to accomplish so much! I really wanted it to not go like it did in canon where Shigaraki builds up his argument, is called out on it, and then drops it immediately. To me that just felt SO disappointing. I really want my version of him to be simultaneously more likable and more dangerous.**

 **I do want to say that the scene in question is in no way whatsoever meant to be me bashing anybody or trying to commentate on something to the audience outside of the story itself. I just took the scene and let it flow organically until it was time to move on. Honestly, I was having a bit of trouble deciding who I would pair Momo off with, and her little conversation with Kyoka served as a good exercise for this, while also just being enjoyable to write.**

 **It's like you said: it makes sense for her to say what she said in-character and based off of the knowledge she has of Izuku at this time. Even beyond that though, he's just not her type, at least as I see it. I did not mean anything by it other than that. I agree that ships are not something to handle flippantly, as I think I've stated before.**

 **If you have any other concerns about this, do feel free to PM me about them! I am not in any way upset by this. Thank you as always!**

 **Sandman001: You are entirely correct. Her Quirk comes with a host of Required Secondary Powers (or Rule of Cool) in order to function as it does.**

 **x-YaoiWolf-x: You are most welcome! For the sake of clarification, he did not barf directly onto Mineta, just close to him. Poor guy has been through enough for one day I reckon.**

 **Thank you for this high praise! I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **bigdogneversleeps: Thank you and you bet! It was a detail that was easy to include and ended up being a decent gag moment IMO. I did have a lot of fun with the Denki/Kyoka/Momo scene and I'm glad you enjoyed it as well. I'll go ahead and take that down as a shipping vote.**

 **The 0bservanc3: You with your...good ideas and...I'm using this! Aizawa deserves something like this.**

 **I'm glad you enjoyed the fight! I totally agree that, all else being equal, Nomus are at an inherent disadvantage due to their lack of intelligence. Dad Might FTW.**

 **My theory on the Nomu's Quirks is actually very simple: Their reduced intelligence is due to the fact that all of their "excess" brainpower is used to run their Quirks. It is confirmed in canon that it's not quite so simple as AFO just jamming a bunch of Quirks into people, since USJ Nomu is confirmed to have the DNA of at least four people inside of him. There's clearly more going on there. The factors that you propose could all be equally valid, but since he is explicitly called "bioengineered Nomu," I would think that's the route they ultimately went with. Because of this, I would also posit that if AFO were to remove a Nomu's Quirks, they would still look as they do.**

 **Hah! My fake-out worked! And Shoji is gradually gaining a bigger part in the story. Whether this will last or if he was just taking the spotlight for USJ remains to be seen. At the very least he will have more involvement than in canon, but then again so will everyone. Not that this is saying much with some characters (*cough*Sato*cough*).**

 **I'm very glad that I'm able to live up to Shigaraki's potential. I feel like canon just scratches the surface and if we dig just a bit deeper, we'll find a truly compelling and dangerous Villain. Needless to say that he would be EXTREMELY different if he had been saved by someone other than AFO. Even if it had been, for instance, Stain (even if he hadn't actually become Stain by that point). You can bet your bottom dollar that AFO was absolutely working his magic on Shigaraki the whole time, whether he was aware of it or not. If I'm portraying Shigaraki as intelligent and dangerous, then I need to do my absolute best to make AFO absolutely pants-shittingly TERRIFYING. I look forward to the challenge...in due time.**

 **This is addressed this chapter and I hope you find it satisfying. Obviously the damage will linger, but it's a start. Mineta was just hiding in the fetal position, possibly rocking back and forth.**

 **You know, originally it was just supposed to be a reference to the crazy, unplanned run-on mental scenario that she launched into a moment before, but now that I think about it...I'm honestly not sure. She won't tell me. Probably not? I totally agree with this interpretation of her parents though. No word from me on the ship due to me being determined to play coy on it for as long as possible, whether you've already figured it out or not, mainly because I enjoy watching you theorize :P**

 **As for the Sports Festival, for sure the tournament will be different because, surprise surprise, it's canonically randomized! So I'll be breaking out the dice for that one, though at least one fight is destined to happen regardless (three guesses which one and the first two don't count). As for the first two rounds...I'm not sure. I think I'll make that my question for the readers this time. There is actually a two-week period between when the festival is announced and when it actually takes place, so there will be things to cover in that time, not the least of which is Katsuki's birthday (April 20th) and one other event that I've been looking forward to as well. According to the timeline I'm using, Golden Week (4/29-5/6) also takes place during this time, with the Sports Festival taking place afterwards. As I do not have an actual calendar for this, and we have no idea what year it is (just that it likely takes place in the 22nd-23rd century sometime) I'll probably just have to pick one and steal the calendar for it.**

 **As for the League of Villains, I'll give it some thought. I could easily hand-wave it and say that Kurogiri's injuries would make things difficult or that they're just recruiting or somesuch. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

 **Trainer Jayden: Thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy.**

 **UchihaNaruto247: For sure she doesn't know all there is to know about Izuku. I'm going off of that he just isn't her type on a basic level. He's awesome and everything but she just doesn't find him attractive (or at least not attractive enough to pursue).**

 **Guest: Thank you for your input on Zero-Gravity. This does indeed make it easier to envision and is most likely a trick I will use in the future.**

 **Markus-Antonius: Yeah, the last one ended up being long due to how deep I went into Nomu and Zero-Gravity. I'm glad I did though! It was an interesting thought-exercise. Rest assured that they're only that long when I have something to say. If it does bother you though, that's why I keep them bolded.**

 **otakuficwriter: Giving the characters more development will always be my goal. I'm really jazzed that most people seem to be liking my take on Shigaraki, and I'm also relieved that nobody seems to take issue with him and Kurogiri escaping. That would indeed take the story WAY off of the rails and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's not what I want at this time. You are indeed correct that he and Midoriya have not actually exchanged a single word yet and their interactions so far consist solely of Izuku attempting to immolate him. They will have their meeting though, oh yes. *rubs hands together evilly***

 **Look at us just making each other's days better! XD Thank you as always and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Twain apprentice: So, shout-out to you for the extra reviews. Much appreciated. Out of curiosity, did you do these as you went, or just all at once after you finished? Your chapter 15 review suggests the latter, but I'm curious.**

 **A few highlights: Chapter 5 - Oh I've only just gotten started with Endeavor! Chapter 6 - I will continue to attempt to do so. Chapter 9 - I agree. Completely.**

 **A blanket thank-you for all of the other reviews! I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Guest: Thank you! I hope you also enjoy what I've got in store for you this time.**

 **Guest: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one as well.**

 **Let's get straight into seeing how Denki deals with a Quirk-induced hangover.**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Clear Skies, Expect Rain

Denki Kaminari shook his head and kneaded his temples with his knuckles, trying to shake the foggy feeling out of his head. This sort of thing always happened when he overused his Quirk, so he was more or less used to it, but it always made him feel really crappy. It was like he had woken up from a really terrible night's sleep and his mind just refused to get itself going.

Bus. He was on a bus. Why was he on a bus? Hurt. Him? No, Midoriya. Midoriya was badly hurt and over half of class 1-A had insisted on accompanying him to the infirmary. Aizawa too, though he was being transported separately. What had happened to him?

Focus. Remember. Play it all back and piece it together. He had done this hundreds of times throughout his life, but it still wasn't a perfect process.

Villains. He had been fighting Villains with Jiro and Yaoyorozu. They had a plan, but they needed time. He gave them that time by distracting the Villains. It had gone a lot better than it could have, but he had taken a few hits.

Okay, that explained why he hurt all over. Progress.

He had fired off his strongest move after that and fried his brain. Jiro and Yaoyorozu were alright. Their plan must have worked. No surprise there, they were smart girls. Yaoyorozu in particular. Was that why he had the nagging feeling that he had seen something amazing that was Yaoyorozu-related?

Not important. Don't get hung up on the details. Keep going.

Jiro. For some reason the next chunk of his memories were centered around Jiro…being nice? Sort of? He just had a general impression of "Jiro equals nice." Well, that was fine as far as Denki was concerned. Better to be on good terms with cute girls than not, right? Right.

He was doing it again. Focus. Remember. Play it all back and piece it together.

Teachers. The teachers had all shown up after that. They had gotten straight to work with first aid and Villain cleanup. Their first priority had been getting Midoriya and Aizawa proper medical attention. There had been a bunch of big words and medical jargon thrown around that Denki wouldn't have understood even if he had been completely lucid. The end result of all of that was that Bakugo, Uraraka, Iida, Kirishima, Asui, Todoroki, Aoyama, Sero, Hagakure, Shoji, Ashido and himself were all on the bus that was taking Midoriya back to U.A. for emergency treatment.

Hang on, that meant there were seven others that weren't with them. Ojiro, Koda, Sato, Tokoyami, Mineta, Yaoyorozu and Jiro. Where were they? Shit. He didn't know. He was Class President. He should probably know that. Especially since his Vice-President was currently unconscious and being carried by Shoji, who looked as though he was being _extremely_ careful with him.

Denki shook his head again and smacked it with a grunt of exasperation.

"Prez? You back with us, man?" a clap on the shoulder caused him to look to his left to see that Sero was the one sitting next to him. He liked Sero. Sero was a cool dude.

"Rrrgh!" another smack to the head. Focus damnit!

"Whoa, take it easy! Yaomomo and Jiro were telling us what happened before we headed to the bus. You really went Plus Ultra back there, Prez, so just chill for a moment. It's all over now."

"Jir…Mo…'vryone…where?" forming coherent words was still difficult. It didn't usually last this long. Maybe he really had gone Plus Ultra?

"Oh! You wanna know where everyone else is?" fortunately, being a cool dude, Sero understood him.

"Whey-er, yeah."

"Well, we still don't know exactly where Tokoyami and Koda are." Sero explained, a few of the other students nodding as they realized what was going on, "It seems like they ended up in that big dome and don't know how to get out. Thirteen went to go find them, since they know it better than anyone. It looked like Hound Dog wanted to go, but apparently that's the Downpour Zone so he'd have a hard time in there. At least that's what the principal was saying. By the way, the principal's a little, white, mouse-bear thing that can talk, so, that's a thing."

"He's actually _super_ cute! I just wanted to pick him up and cuddle him!" Hagakure gushed.

"Ribbit. That seems like a good way to get detention." Asui suggested.

"How funny would that _be_ though?" Hagakure giggled, "Imagine explaining to your parents that you got detention for cuddling the principle! I think that's a risk I'd be willing to take! Right, Mina?"

"Huh?" Ashido seemed to be in a bit of a daze, "Oh, yeah, sure." her response lacked any of her usual enthusiasm, especially for such a topic.

"Anyway," Kirishima got the conversation back on track, "Yaomomo, Sato, Ojiro and Jiro all stayed behind to help with things. Their Quirks were in high demand for a situation like that, especially Creation and Earphone Jack. Sato was helping to move debris and heavy Villains and Ojiro was showing the teachers where he had been fighting in the Ruins Zone."

"Good call." Bakugo supplied from where he stood next to Shoji and Midoriya, "Place was a fucking maze."

Okay. So far everything was making sense. Denki couldn't help but notice there was one particular student that they were avoiding though.

"Mineta?"

"He…" Shoji seemed to be searching for the right words, "…he is in a bad way, Kaminari-san. He did not appear to be physically injured when I saw him, but I fear that he has taken a different type of wound."

"Ribbit, he's been traumatized."

"I daresay we all have," Iida confirmed, "but he certainly seemed more…affected. I wish I could say that everything will be fine with him but, well…" he trailed off.

"It's part of the life." Todoroki continued for him, "Being a Hero means facing harsh realities. Having a strong Quirk or a quick wit isn't enough."

"Oui. You must have a will strong enough to endure and a heart strong enough to recover." Aoyama concluded.

There was silence after that as, unbeknownst to the students of class 1-A, they all asked themselves the same question:

 _Can I be strong enough?_

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Mezo Shoji was leaning against the wall of the infirmary, arms all crossed and his duty complete. There was a strange, lingering feeling from holding the unconscious Midoriya. He had felt so…wrong. There was a bizarre mixture of heat and cold that was only partially due to the thin layer of ice that Todoroki made sure to constantly refresh on their way there. He was limp in Mezo's arms and the only way he could detect his breathing was when he had at least two tentaclears working in tandem. The boy that Shoji knew to be amongst the strongest of them felt so incredibly…fragile.

He had seen Midoriya's stand against Nomu. He had borne witness to the entire thing. He had seen, more than ever before, the true strength of Midoriya's convictions. There was no "if" in Mezo's mind regarding the boy's future as a Hero. Anyone who had the capacity to do what he had done, to sacrifice himself to protect others in such a way, was already a Hero in all but name.

Mezo wished that he could have done more, but his pragmatic nature had stopped him. Had he gone to confront Nomu, he would have been nothing more than a liability. His strengths in combat were his versatility in close-quarters, his awareness of his surroundings, and his actual strength. None of this would have mattered against a monster like that. It would have been absolutely pointless.

So Mezo did what he could. He watched, he waited, and he bore witness. He would go to the police later. He had no doubt that there would be some on U.A. grounds for at least the rest of the day, if not longer. He would tell them everything he had seen and heard. Everything he knew and had guessed. Everything he feared, though could not prove.

This was how his Quirk could be used to help others and, as Mezo looked on while Recovery Girl worked her magic on Midoriya and his classmates watched intently, he felt his resolve strengthen once again.

 _If this is what I can do, then I am honor-bound to do it._

… _I am sorry that I could not do more._

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was kind of a mess, though he wasn't about to let anyone else know it. It didn't matter anyway. His actual injuries were minimal. Hell, he had hurt _himself_ more with those back-to-back super explosions than anything the so-called Villains had managed to do to him. His arms were killing him, but all that meant was that they would heal up and be stronger for it.

Not everyone else was so lucky. Twinkles was moving a bit too gingerly and the President looked like he had been put through the ringer.

Then there was Deku.

Dear god.

He had seen Deku beaten up before. Hell, more often than not it had been _him_ who had done it as a part of their no-Quirk sparring or one of Deku's experiments gone wrong. The most beaten up he had seen him up until that point had been at the end of their match just two days ago.

This was different. This was _wrong_. He wasn't just beaten, he was fucking _broken_! Stupid motherfucker could have gotten himself _killed_ if Katsuki had been just a few seconds slower! If Uraraka hadn't been there to make his plan work! If his flat-out _inhuman_ willpower hadn't managed to keep him standing until the last possible moment!

If, if, fucking _goddamn_ COCK-SUCKING _IF_! He fucking _hated_ that word right then. It made him want to just _break_ something. What? The Villain responsible? Deku for getting himself into this mess? Himself for not being able to stop it? All Might for not being there because _who-the-fuck-knows-why_?!

Aizawa. Aizawa and Thirteen knew why. They had been talking about it. All Might himself, for that matter.

Aizawa was in even worse shape than Midoriya right then, so that was a no-go. Thirteen was dealing with shit back at USJ, so that was also a no-go. Fuck if he knew where All Might was and like hell he was leaving he infirmary right then anyway.

He would have to wait. He hated waiting. Especially when he felt like such a piece of shit.

He had known. He had _known_ that something like this was going to happen! His instincts had been _screaming_ it at him but he hadn't picked up on it until it was nearly too goddamn late! He had let himself get carried away just like he always did when it came to fighting. He couldn't help it; it was a huge part of who he was. In the fight was where he had always felt the most _alive_ , the most _himself_. He could just cut loose and let his instincts carry him away in the moment. In the fight, nothing mattered but the fight itself and Katsuki _lived_ for that. It was practically orgasmic.

Violence: his anti-drug. It just made everything so simple in the times when he just really, _really_ needed _something_ to be simple. Gods knew nothing else was anymore. He couldn't even tell Deku about it. Not this. This was the _last_ thing he wanted his best friend to know about.

So Katsuki got angry. He got angry because being angry was easier than being sad. He yelled and cursed and lashed out because that was easier than just breaking down where he stood.

People asked questions when you cried. They wanted to know what was wrong so they could help, even if there was nothing they could do. When you got angry, nobody really asked questions. They just got the hell out of your way and that suited Katsuki just fine.

He didn't want the questions. He didn't want the pity. He didn't want people to try and _help_ him because there wasn't a goddamn thing anyone could do and he knew it.

So he would do what he knew best: He would be there.

He would be there for Deku and _damned_ if anyone was going to take that away from him.

"Hey, Bakugo? You alright, man?" it was Redhead.

Katsuki blinked and realized that Recovery Girl was no longer in the room. She must have done all she could for Deku and given a dose of healing to everyone else who looked like they needed it. The four girls had all been given chairs and were currently lined up at Deku's bedside. The boys were left to mill about.

"I'm fine. A bit surprised that Recovery Girl let this many people stay though." at least the second part was true, Katsuki figured.

"Oh, that." Redhead latched onto it, just like he had hoped, "Iida actually asked if she would let everyone stay and she just didn't have the heart to tell him 'no' from what I could tell."

"Her exact words were, 'You children have been through quite enough for today. If being here will help put you at ease, then you may stay this time. Just keep it down and don't expect to make a habit out of this!'" Glasses supplied, "It really was quite touching. She was thinking of everyone's emotional health in addition to our physical health."

"Yeah, Recovery Girl's great! I kinda wish she was my granny or something." Invisible Girl piped up, "What do you think, Mina?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Katsuki had noticed that things had been a bit too quiet on the bus ride back. He had attributed this to the fact that they had all just dealt with some serious shit and needed time to process, but this gave him a secondary theory.

"What's your deal, Raccoon Eyes?" he felt something flick him on the back of his head and saw Frog Girl retracting her tongue.

"Ribbit. Insensitive as that was, we're worried about you too, Mina-chan."

"You shouldn't be. You should be mad at me." she wrapped her arms around herself and seemed to be gripping tightly, "You should all be completely disgusted with me right now."

"What?! No! Why would we feel that way, Mina?!" Invisible Girl sounded horrified at the idea.

"Because it's my fault!" Racoon Eyes shouted, the waterworks starting as she did, "It's my fault that the Villains got away! I had _one_ job but I'm so _stupid_ that I couldn't even do that right! If I had just _kept my shit together_ then…then…" she had broken down completely at this point and seemed incapable of further speech.

"Nobody blames you, Ashido." Redhead of all people was the first one to act. He was standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders, "We all…" he choked on his words for a moment before starting again, "…All of us wish that we had done something different, but that's how hindsight works. If I could go back and do things over, not just today, there's more than one thing that I'd do differently."

Redhead turned her chair around with little apparent effort and knelt down so she was looking at his face.

"You're beating yourself up right now. I know that feeling. I know it so well that it freaking hurts, but you can't overload yourself with pressure like that! You said something similar to me before, so I'm gonna give it right back to you, Ashido. I still can't say that I've done what you've asked and it might be a while before I even come close, but I still stand by what I said then! Don't regret and keep moving forward!"

…What the hell was he talking about? Apparently those two had some kind of history. Maybe Katsuki would ask him about it later if he decided he still cared.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Ashido, I'm no good at this kind of thing." Redhead had one hand on the pink girl's shoulder and was looking at the other one with some sort of enigmatic emotion on his face, "I never know what to say in situations like this so I keep spouting off the same cliché crap. I just don't want to see my horn buddy making the same mistakes that I did, so…"

Raccoon Eyes didn't say anything back to him, but in Katsuki's opinion, the way she buried her head into Redhead's chest and clung to him like a lifeline said enough.

He envied her, in a way. From what he'd learned, she was the type who was always open and honest with how she felt, for better or worse. Hell, Redhead was the same way. He'd known that from the moment he'd met the guy and it was one of the reasons he trusted him.

"Hey, I'm gonna step out for a bit. Get some air. Hold down the fort, alright, Kirishima?" he clapped the other boy on the back.

"Yeah." Kirishima said, sounding slightly choked-up as he rubbed Racoon Eyes' back, "Yeah, you got it, man."

Katsuki walked to the door, but was stopped by a low voice that was pitched so only he could hear it.

"Bakugo-san." it was Tentacles, who was leaning against the wall by the door. He hadn't moved, but one eye was gazing at Katsuki from beneath his silver hair. What little of his expression Katsuki could see spoke volumes. Statements unmade, questions unasked, but there all the same.

Katsuki held his gaze with the corner of his eye for a moment before shaking his head slightly. A nod in return told him that Tentacles had understood his meaning: not now.

No, not now, Katsuki thought as he closed the infirmary door behind him and started down the hall towards room 1-A.

Right then, he had something else he had to do.

After a brief stop in the empty classroom to grab his phone, Katsuki exited the building and found a secluded spot to make his call, cell phone usage not being allowed in the building except in the case of emergencies.

His call rang a few times before he was connected.

" _Hello? Katsuki-kun?"_

"Hi, Inko-san. Sorry to bother you."

" _Oh don't be silly, dear! You know you're always welcome whether it's in-person or by phone. I was just surprised to hear from you at this time of day. I thought you'd be at school?"_

She was unintentionally making this difficult. Izuku's mom was a sweet lady who had always treated him just like one of her own and he knew he was about to make her day so much worse.

It had to be done though. He knew she would rather hear it from him.

"I am. There was…an incident. We were doing a training exercise and…something went wrong."

He heard Inko start to talk a couple of times before she took a deep, slow breath.

" _Are you alright?"_

"Yeah."

" _Is Izuku alright?"_

"…No. He _will_ be, but right now he's in the infirmary."

"… _I see. Am I right in assuming that I don't want to know the specifics?"_

She was a smart woman. Deku might have a natural knack for his brains, but Inko was the one who helped cultivate them.

"Inko-san, you know I'm not the type to beat around the bush, so I'm going to be straight with you, okay?" he just needed to rip the bandage off.

" _Please do. Thank you for the warning."_

"It's bad. Recovery Girl was able to heal the worst of it so he's not in any immediate danger and he hasn't been maimed or anything like that, but I think that if I went into detail right now it would only make you worry. I just wanted you to know that he's going to be alright, but if he comes home tonight it'll be late and he'll still be recovering. I'll be with him if that happens, so try not to worry yourself too much, impossible as that might be."

"… _Thank you, Katsuki-kun. I appreciate you taking the time to tell me this and I appreciate your honesty. You've always been a good friend to Izuku, so I will gratefully accept your offer to watch over him. I apologize for the imposition."_

 _No. Please no._

"It's fine. I'd have done it anyway. It's the least I can do."

" _I know. You're a good boy."_

 _God damnit…_

" _Are you sure you're alright?"_

"Yeah. Yeah, it's just raining a little bit. Had to come outside to use the phone, so…"

" _I understand. I'll let you go. Go back inside when you feel up to it."_

"I will."

" _Goodbye, Katsuki-kun."_

"Bye, Inko-san."

The call disconnected and Katsuki let the hand holding the phone fall limply to his side.

He really did hate when it rained on clear days.

It tended to give people the wrong idea.

He would just…take a moment.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Tenya Iida was experiencing some very complicated feelings.

On the one hand, he was grateful that nobody seemed to have been permanently injured in any way. He also felt pride that this was, in no small way, thanks to him managing to find All Might and Principal Nezu in a timely manner. He felt relief that Midoriya was going to be alright. He felt empathy towards his classmates with whom he had shared the day's hardships. He felt admiration for how well many of them had acquitted themselves. He felt worry for their homeroom teacher. He felt anger at the Villains that had attacked them and then escaped.

One especially powerful emotion, however, was regret. He wished that he could have been faster. That he could have found All Might and Nezu just a little bit sooner.

Tenya knew that he was not the only one wrestling with such emotions; Ashido and Kirishima had flat-out professed to feeling similar things, Bakugo had felt the need to excuse himself and Uraraka…poor Uraraka. She had sat herself down at Midoriya's bedside and not said a word the entire time. Indeed, Tenya was not sure if she had spoken at all since they had left USJ.

"I'm taking off." Todoroki was addressing Kaminari, who seemed to have regained full use of his faculties, "You guys don't need me here anymore and I might be able to do something useful back at USJ."

"I shall accompany you." Shoji said, unfolding his arms and stepping away from the wall, "I wish to have a word with the police."

"Alright." Kaminari nodded to the pair, his expression grim, "Do your best, you guys. Good work today. If you see anyone else, tell 'em I said that."

"I also wish to commend the pair of you in particular." Tenya piped up, "Todoroki-san, your quick thinking and the use of your Quirk was instrumental. Had you not been there, the outcome could have been so much worse. You as well, Shoji-san. You saved Thirteen-sensei and managed to make it so that Midoriya-san was transported here without suffering further injury. For this, you both have my utmost thanks." he emphasized his point by bowing.

"Bye, Todo! Don't mess with time!" one of Hagakure's disembodied gloves waved from her chair.

Todoroki grumbled something unintelligible in response to this bizarre statement and left, Shoji following after.

Over the course of the next few hours, students started to trickle out of the infirmary. By the time Bakugo returned after being gone for about an hour, Asui, Sero and Aoyama had left. Another hour after this, Hagakure excused herself and Kaminari followed suit shortly thereafter.

Around the time when class usually ended, Ashido spoke up. She was in much better shape than she had been, although she was still a little subdued and there had not been more than a foot of distance between her and Kirishima since her earlier outburst.

"Kiri, don't you need to go home?"

"I can stay."

"But your train-" she was cut off as Kirishima looked directly at her, expression unreadable to Tenya.

"I can stay."

That settled the matter.

Therafter, they took it in shifts to leave briefly to change out of their Hero Costumes and retrieve their belongings from their classroom. This especially was a relief to Tenya, who had grown somewhat tired of wearing his armor. He surmised that he had simply not gotten used to it yet.

Ashido had to coax Uraraka out of her chair and leave with her, as the girl seemed dead-set on neither moving an inch nor speaking.

"Come on, Ochako. Look, Baku, Iida and Kiri are all here. They won't let anything happen to him. We'll just be gone for a little bit and then we'll come right back. Promise."

"All will be well."

"Ain't nobody getting through me!"

"Get out of here, Uraraka."

She eventually caved and the pair returned within ten minutes, Ashido looking as though she had needed to jog to keep up with the shorter girl.

At around six-thirty, Kirishima had no choice but to leave. He started to protest when Ashido brought this up, but she reminded him that his next train wouldn't be until past ten if he stayed any longer.

"Ahh…fine. Here, take my number, Bakugo. You let me know when he wakes up, alright?"

"Yeah, sure."

The pair exchanged contact information and then Kirishima was gone. Ashido followed suit just after seven, citing similar reasons.

"Don't worry about texting me. I'll make Kiri do it. Yay for delegation~"

"Right," Tenya broke the silence a short while thereafter, "I take it we are all in for the long haul then?"

"Looks that way." Bakugo confirmed. Uraraka said nothing, but had not moved.

"In that case, I believe it would be pertinent for me to go on a snack run. Any preferences or spare change?"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki watched the door close behind Glasses as he left to get food and drinks for them. Guy was a total stiff, but he had to admit that he was reliable and had a good head on his shoulders.

"…It hurts."

Bakugo did a double-take at the voice that he had not heard for the better part of the past seven hours. She was uncharacteristically quiet, but there was no doubt that it had been Uraraka.

"Say what?"

"Do you feel like this too, Bakugo? I don't know what it is but…it hurts. Right here in my chest. I've been trying to figure it out but I just can't. It won't go away."

"…You dumbass." did she really need to ask? "You don't like seeing Deku get hurt and you were there when it happened. You feel like you should have been able to do more and in spite of Kirishima's pretty speech, you're beating yourself up about it. Can't help it."

Katsuki closed his eyes and tried to let everything out in a single sigh. For just a moment, he let himself be honest.

"…Yeah, Uraraka. I'd say I feel _exactly_ the same way as you do. Sucks, doesn't it?"

Neither of them said anything else until Glasses returned with their refreshments. Katsuki hadn't realized just how much he had needed a pick-me-up until after he had devoured some bread, a bag of spicy chips and one-third of a bag of cookies before chasing it all down with a bottle of soda in a single go.

"…Holy shit I feel alive again. Thanks, Iida."

"Thank you, Iida-san."

At least she was talking again, even if it was just a little. Things were starting to get downright depressing.

"You are most welcome. It is gratifying to know that my hunch was correct." Iida responded between sips of orange juice.

"Incidentally," Iida asked after a while longer had passed, "I do hope that neither of you will be getting into trouble for staying here so late?"

"I'm good." Katsuki responded. "When I left earlier I called my mom. Called Deku's mom too."

"I live alone." Uraraka stated, "My parents live far away, so I have an apartment."

"Ah, very good then. I myself took a moment to step out and call my family after changing out of my costume. They were very understanding." Iida concluded.

The minutes ticked by. At around nine, Uraraka slumped forward onto the side of Deku's bed. When she didn't sit back up, Katsuki figured she had fallen asleep.

 _Hell, if she wants to sleep, let her. She's been driving herself crazy all day so maybe that's the best choice?_

"Bakugo-san," Iida had leaned in and was speaking quietly out of consideration for Uraraka, "I am going to step out and partake in some light exercise to get my blood flowing. I do not know how long we will be here, but I would not feel right falling asleep just yet."

"Right. I might do something similar in a bit. Oh, also we don't have class tomorrow."

"What? How do you know that?"

"Got an email about it. They sent it out to everyone about an hour ago. Has Nezu's personal signature on it, so I'm pretty sure it's legit."

"Bakugo-san! Usage of cellular devices within the school is strictly-"

"Shut up and go for your jog."

Iida responded by pointing to his own eyes, then at Katsuki's. Katsuki's rebuttal involved flipping him off. He was pretty sure he had won that argument.

Sure enough, not even fifteen minutes later Katsuki felt the day starting to catch up with him.

"Stepping out. Don't go anywhere." he muttered to the silent room before dimming the lights and leaving.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Softness. A bed? Must be. So tired…

Izuku Midoriya gradually came to a state of semi-awareness. His eyes half-opened to a dimly-lit room that he vaguely recognized as the infirmary. Of course he'd be there. The last thing he remembered before this was pain. Lots and lots of pain. It made sense that he'd be there.

The pain was still there, but it felt foggy and detached. Painkillers? Or maybe he was just still half-asleep?

There was a shape off to one side. He could hear soft breathing. Izuku did not turn his head so much as he allowed it to flop to the side, but it did the trick.

Brown hair. An angelic face. Who was that?

…Oh, it was Uraraka. What was she doing here? It must be late if it was this dark.

One detail stood out to Izuku as incredibly important in his half-awake state: one of Uraraka's long side-bangs had fallen across her face. It didn't look right.

Without really considering his actions, Izuku lifted his right hand and tucked the hair behind her ear.

She was soft. And warm.

Izuku's hand lingered for only a moment, but this was enough time for the sleeping Uraraka to latch onto it and shift so her head was resting on their hands.

In any other situation, Izuku would likely have been incredibly flustered by this, but he just couldn't bring himself to care right then and fell asleep shortly thereafter.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"…ku. Deku."

It was a voice that Izuku would know anywhere. Slightly hushed, but it was unmistakable.

"Nngh…Kacchan?"

"Yeah. You know where you are?"

Izuku's eyes opened. His mind was still a bit hazy, but much clearer than before.

"Infirmary. It's late." Indeed, the clock on the wall said it was just after ten.

"…Aw, crap." Izuku realized, "My sleep schedule for tomorrow is shot."

"Tomorrow's classes are cancelled. I already called our moms."

"Oh…good."

"You've been out for a while. Everyone else already left except for me, Iida and Uraraka. I swear she hasn't moved from that spot in the last nine hours except to get changed. You gave everyone a real scare back there, you bastard."

"Wow…you all stayed? You didn't have to."

"Of course we did. Finish waking up so you can stop acting stupid."

Izuku decided to give it the old college try and succeeded in regaining a bit more of his awareness. Enough awareness to realize that his right hand was currently underneath something soft and warm.

"…Oh."

"Yeah. 'Oh.' You should probably do something about that."

"You couldn't have woken her up first?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

"You're evil."

"I've been told I make a good Villain."

Izuku sighed and then decided to try sitting up. This decision, while successful, was one he immediately regretted.

"Hnngh!" it felt like he had been given the most thorough beating of his life, only centered entirely on his upper torso.

 _Okay. Okay that's fine. Just take a moment and then figure out a nice way to wake her up._

"…Not leaving…go 'way…"

It seemed as though his grunt of pain had woken her up…at least partially. Either that or she was a slow-starter.

"Well, ah, Uraraka-san, that'll be hard unless you let my hand go."

"…Comfy."

"Well, if you've been sleeping in that position for any length of time, then that'll probably change when you stand up."

At that point, she looked at him and Izuku's heart skipped a beat. With her half-lidded brown eyes, slightly parted lips and innocently confused expression, Uraraka looked absolutely adorable.

Izuku felt his face heating up as he saw comprehension slowly dawn on her, her face reddening and her expression shifting into one of horrified realization before she buried her face in the blankets and let out a muffled whine.

… _Same._

The door opened and Iida stepped through.

"Of all the times to need the restroom! I got your message right after I arrived, Bakugo-san! Midoriya-san, how are you feeling?" as he took in the scene before him, Iida adopted a puzzled expression, "…Did I miss something?"

As Izuku wracked his brain for an appropriate response, one detail stood out to him as incredibly important:

Uraraka still hadn't let go of his hand.

* * *

 **This ended up being a little shorter than I anticipated, but it just felt like a really good place to end it. I was originally going to have All Might stop in briefly but then that bit with Katsuki happened and it just didn't seem appropriate for him to grill All Might right then and there. Plus, he used up his transformation for the day apart from maybe a minute or so and I feel like with his earlier revelation, he wouldn't push himself so much just for that.**

 **On the subject of All Might, because things went better for him this time around, he actually will not notice a significant drop in his transformation time from USJ like he did in canon. Keep those flames burning strong!**

 **Now, I have a question for all of you, or maybe this would be more of a request?**

 **Does anyone have any fun/cool ideas for alternate versions of round one and round two of the Sports Festival? Round three will still be a tournament because tournaments are my favorite things ever, but I'm open to suggestions for the other two parts, so let me have it! Don't feel restricted to keeping it as an obstacle course/a cavalry battle either! Alternate Universe could mean a different setup!**

 **I'm curious to see what you all can come up with! It'll be at least a few chapters until we actually get into the Sports Festival proper, so there will be time to flesh things out.**

 **Next time, we see the end of the USJ aftermath and what comes after!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	18. Chapter 18: Fallout

**Well, shoot. With this one I've finally just about caught up to my notes! I'll have to write some more.**

 **Review time:**

 **Twain apprentice: I agree that the USJ arc went on for a while. At the same time, I don't feel like any of it was wasted either. Seems like you guys agree in general. Thank you for the suggestion for the Sports Festival! Izuku will still have a form of Full Cowl, though it won't be the same as canon.**

 **sremiehzla: This same thing actually happened to someone else before. This story has, to the best of my knowledge, never had an actual pairing tag, yet some people still see one, then it goes away, then it comes back. I'm not sure what's up with that. There will certainly be pairings, and by now I think it's obvious that this is one of them, but I didn't tag them because A) they're not the main point of the story and B) It took us over 100,000 words to get to the point where they're really starting to shape up.**

 **bhennen: I have honestly not thought that far ahead yet. I do think that, with her Quirk being uncontrolled as it is, it would be rather dangerous for her to live with the Midoriyas, particularly because Inko works and Izuku has school, so there would not be anyone around to watch her for a large portion of the day, and I'm not sure that Inko could afford a babysitter. Eri really requires full-time love and attention IMHO.**

 **MarvelNinja10: That's a very neat idea and I will certainly consider it.**

 **pippothehippo: This could certainly work. We had a lot of fun with the Battle Trial, so it would be fun to bring that back and mix it up a bit.**

 **Markus-Antonius: Thank you!**

 **NPGamer11: This is a neat concept. It keeps things familiar but still shakes them up enough to be sufficiently different and entertaining.**

 **the_narr_master: Aww, thank you! Thank you for the suggestions, and I agree that things shouldn't be completely biased in favor of combat-types, at least until the tournament rolls around. Thank you for the show of faith and the positive vibes!**

 **Tombs456: Thank you! That scene really resonated with me while I was writing it. We've had multiple suggestions for a capture-the-flag type scenario, and it's certainly a strong idea!**

 **Jack Inqu: I like getting into Denki's head. Don't worry about Ashido, she'll be alright. So will everyone else. I hope that I'm not rushing the class' relationships with each other too much. Yeah, they haven't known each other for that long yet, but I feel like with the sort of things they've been through along with the personality types they have on display that they could at least have become friends by now. Most of them anyway. I hope you enjoy!**

 **bigdogneversleeps: Thank you! Mineta will not be gone from the story entirely, but I don't think it's a secret at this point that what you are guessing my plan is...is exactly what my plan is. I'm also glad that you like what I'm doing with Bakugo. Thank you as well for the Sports Festival suggestions!**

 **The 0bservanc3: Tired Joke will certainly be in here and we have you to thank for it. Also that's a great ship name.**

 **I always meant for a large part of Torchbearer to be slice-of-life style things, since I enjoy those. It just so happens that the first couple of arcs happen so close together that we don't get much time for them until after USJ. Of course, I also enjoy fighting. I'm easy to please, I guess.**

 **I'm happy with how the Denki scene turned out and I'm glad that you are too. I absolutely believe that his Quirk can be improved with training. Indeed, the summer training camp shows him doing exactly this. I have an idea of the direction I want to take him, but multiple aspects will improve over time. Don't worry about Koda, he's fine. A bit wet is all.**

 **My working theory for the apparent anonymity of U.A.'s faculty (apart from folks like All Might and Midnight), is simply that there's security in it. If the Villains don't know what to expect, it can act as a deterrent of sorts. I don't think that Mineta ran into any nasty Quirks like that. It's mainly the near-death experiences and the situation as a whole. His fate will be shown, worry not. Last chapter and this chapter have really cemented Mezo as one of the bigger characters here, at least for the moment.**

 **I really had to dig deep for the Bakugo scenes. I wanted them to be really...visceral. I will say that you aren't _quite_ correct on what exactly he's hiding from Izuku. Maybe this chapter will help make things clearer, maybe not. I do agree that he could use an emotional outlet, but he has to let himself get there first. One step at a time. He's starting to get better about the names. He's learned both Kirishima's and Iida's from what we've seen.**

 **Mina was definitely at a low point after all that. I'm basing their relationship off of what canon shows it to be, and as of the first day of U.A. he still called her "Ashido," so that's why I did that. How much longer that lasts is anyone's guess. The specific event that I am referring to can be seen in chapters 144 and 145 of the manga.**

 **...Actually I just re-read those chapters and he never says her name _at all_. W/e, I'm sticking with what I said. I kind of envisioned her horns going on either side of his neck. Didn't really think too much about it though. That'd be a mood-killer.**

 **The bit about not messing with time was a reference to that bit of mind-fuckery they pulled on the Villains back in the Landslide Zone where Shoto made them think his Quirk was time manipulation.**

 **Ochako's mental state will be explored in this chapter. Heavily. I avoided her POV for this precise reason. As for the hideout raid, well...*evil chuckle* Let's just say I do have plans for what sparks _that_ particular event.**

 **I will say that I do not intend to have All Might's greater reserves be pointless. In some ways he will end up being in better shape than in canon. No worries about the Sports Festival! What you do have is helpful and others are giving me cool ideas too. I hope you enjoy!**

 **HemaG: I liked the Third Task in GoF. This is a neat idea.**

 **jaciro500: We're certainly seeing an emphasis on team-based ideas, which I like a lot.**

 **LeMarX: I'm glad you like it!**

 **herowanabe696: An interesting idea! I like that there are multiple factors to determine score, sort of like in the entrance exam.**

 **pokemonmaster17: Thank you! I do get that sometimes the A/Ns can be long, especially when I'm diving into research on something. I do try to say interesting things with them though. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Guest: I had your review and approved it, but now I can't see it. Either way, thank you!**

 **Now let's see what Mezo is up to with everyone's favorite detective!**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Fallout

"I see. Well, I think that should just about do it for now, Shoji-san. Allow me to re-iterate how helpful your information has been and to thank you once more on behalf of the police force."

Mezo Shoji inclined his head as the man who had introduced himself as detective Naomasa Tsukauchi stood up from the other side of the table and rolled his shoulders to loosen them before continuing.

"I would also like to apologize for taking up so much of your time. You as well, Nezu-san."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Tsukauchi-san." the diminutive U.A. principal waved the apology away from where he sat next to Mezo on a chair with several books stacked on top of it, "Aizawa could not be here due to his injuries so naturally it would fall to me to accompany Shoji-san. Besides," here he turned his beady black eyes to Mezo, "I believe that this will prove to be a valuable experience for him in addition to serving as a starting point for what I am sure will become a good relationship with the police. Such detailed information is always valuable and it really is quite unfortunate that not all Heroes appreciate this simple fact. Why, I could go on about all of the cases that could have been solved so much more quickly if only-"

"* **Ahem** *" the detective pointedly cleared his throat.

"Ah, right you are, Tsukauchi-san; now is not the time. We simply must talk later, though. I am sure that a man such as yourself would prove to be a stimulating conversational partner for such a topic."

"Ah, er, sure. It might be a while before I have that kind of time though." the detective was clearly taken aback by such an onerous demand, but from what Mezo could tell, this was just how Nezu was. He did not seem to mean anything by it and Tsukauchi seemed to understand that as well.

Mezo sympathized with the detective, quite honestly. He had, after all, been present in this room just as long as Mezo and Nezu had. Others had come and gone, among them had been Todoroki who was being escorted by a cat-faced policeman named Tamakawa. Todoroki had apparently managed to interrogate a couple of Villains during the USJ incident and had been asked to corroborate with Mezo's account. He had only been present for about half an hour before being escorted out again by Tamakawa.

Then there was special officer Kiji. He had been brought in due to his unique Quirk: Stenoport. As Mezo understood it, Stenoport allowed Kiji to project images directly from his own mind or the minds of those he touched onto a mirror, screen, or other such surface. His purpose there was to project Mezo's mental "screenshots" of what had occurred in order to enhance his report. These projections would then be recorded and documented for later use.

As Nezu was quick to point out, such a Quirk was inherently flawed due to the fact that it would project whatever the individual had in mind, meaning that it could be used to lie or distort the truth. From the knowing smile that Tsukauchi had responded with, Mezo had guessed that Nezu was fully aware of what the detective's Quirk was. Tsukauchi had proceeded to explain to Mezo that his Quirk was called Human Lie Detector and that it did precisely what its name implied: the good detective would become immediately aware of any dishonesty emanating from an individual with whom he maintained eye contact.

In this way, Mezo was sat across the table from Tsukauchi and made to recount the events of the day as he remembered them, down to the most minute details. While he did this, Kiji would play back the images that flowed through Mezo's mind and project them onto the monitor that had been provided for this exact purpose. A camera would record everything that appeared on the monitor, with the footage being examined and edited later.

With Nezu there to serve as his chaperone, since Mezo was underage, the odd quartet was rounded out. The process was a slow one, with Mezo making every effort to keep his thoughts clear and directed and to not leave anything out. Once, during a short break, Kiji commented that the nature of Mezo's Quirk made his mental images different from any he had encountered before.

" _It's a bit like sitting at a surveillance desk and watching multiple recordings in tandem. The fact that you are able to make sense of such a thing with no effort…you are an extremely gifted young man, Shoji-san."_

All told, it was nearly midnight by the time the interview was finally over and Tsukauchi was giving Mezo his final thanks.

Mezo would be lying if he said that he wasn't at least a little relieved. The police had been perfectly kind and courteous the entire time and Tsukauchi in particular had proven to be extremely affable, but Mezo could not help but feel slightly nervous. Perhaps it had been the barren room with the one-way glass, perhaps it had been the way the detective's eyes had bored into his own while he made use of his Quirk, perhaps it had been the profoundly unsettling experience of seeing his thoughts displayed as images on a monitor like some bizarre slideshow, or perhaps it had simply been the fact that he was a teenager being interrogated by the police, albeit voluntarily.

Suffice to say, Mezo was not displeased when Tsukauchi waved him and Nezu out of the station. Due to the lateness of the hour, the police had offered to have an officer drive Mezo home and Nezu back to U.A., which the pair gratefully accepted.

"Shoji-san," once they were in the back of the car and underway, Nezu got Mezo's attention with a subtle poke, "lend me an ear, if you would."

Taking the principle's meaning at once, Mezo transformed one of his arms into a tentaclear and extended it to him.

"Thank you. Forgive the secrecy, but given how events have been playing out lately, I felt that certain precautions were warranted."

"I understand, Sensei." Mezo responded through a tentamouth.

"As you are no doubt aware, there was a security breach at U.A. yesterday…or would that be two days ago now? Regardless, you obviously heard the alarms along with every other soul on campus at the time."

"Yes, Sensei."

"It has been said multiple times this evening, but I feel that it bears repeating that you have demonstrated both maturity and the wherewithal to remain calm and collected in what was an extremely trying situation. What is more, by voluntarily approaching the police, not to mention assisting your classmates and rescuing Thirteen, you have proven that you have a strong desire to do good and assist others. Tsukauchi's Human Lie Detector coupled with Kiji's Stenoport have only served to prove that your account was truthful. Given all of this, I believe that I can confide in you certain information to the end that you may be able to assist not only me, but U.A. as a whole. I will only do this, however, if you agree to it. You are not even a week into your Hero Academia and it would be wrong of me to force such a thing upon you. Please take a moment to consider."

…Every time Mezo thought that his long day had finally drawn to a close, something else popped up.

Still, he would not decline. First-year he may be, but the core tenants of Heroism still applied as far as he was concerned: Use your Quirk to help others and be useful in whatever way you can. Nezu would not make such a request lightly, which meant that he honestly believed that Mezo could be of use to him.

There was only one course of action for him to take.

"I will do what I can for you, Sensei."

"You will not speak of what I am about to tell you without my express consent?"

"I will not." this response was met with a pat on the tentacle from Nezu. Mezo registered that the pads on the principle's paw-like hands were soft and squishy.

"Thank you, Shoji-san. Now, in regards to the security breaches that occurred yesterday and today, you could probably have figured out on your own that they are most likely connected."

Mezo nodded. Todoroki had suggested as much during his brief interview and Aizawa had said something to that effect at USJ as well. The timing was just too coincidental for them not to be related.

"What you most likely do _not_ know and that I have purposefully kept quiet is that we have absolutely no idea who infiltrated U.A. yesterday or how they did it. We know that the front gate was destroyed and that an individual who was not in possession of a U.A. ID of any kind made their way through the grounds and into the building, which was what triggered the alarm that you heard. I dispatched a search team and posted the rest of the available teachers at strategic points around campus. None of them found anything. By the time we had reset the security system to check if the intruder was still present, they had already left. One day later…" here Nezu made a broad gesture with his arms at the world around them in general, "…this happens. I thank our lucky stars that nobody was killed or, as far as I can tell, permanently injured. None of ours anyway. This still leaves the question of how this so-called League of Villains knew when and where to strike, as well as just why they were after All Might."

…Shit.

Mezo had, indeed, not known that. A part of him wished that were still the case. The idea that there were Villains that could infiltrate U.A. successfully was bad enough on its own, but the idea that they could do so _without U.A. knowing how they had done it_? That was downright terrifying.

"The ability to evade such a number of coordinated Pro Heroes as well as U.A.'s security system…such a person may as well be a ghost." Mezo said the only thing he could think of that did not involve profanity. He was not one to use harsh language, but it had been a very long day and he had just had quite the bomb dropped on him.

"I see that you appreciate the gravity of the situation, Shoji-san." Nezu's tone was grave.

"I…yes, Sensei. What, exactly, do you believe that I can do to help?" Mezo had questions. He had questions about those questions, but he estimated that they were only about ten minutes from his place of residence and they needed to get to the point. Nezu nodded approvingly, seemingly aware of his thought process.

"For now, nothing. You have had a trying day and need an opportunity to rest and reflect. I have cancelled class for tomorrow in order to give you and your classmates time to do just that as well as to allow the staff and myself time to get everything ship-shape at U.A. again. Additionally, you should be aware that, while your identity will remain anonymous, the testimony and images that you have provided to the police will be made public, at least in part, when the story breaks. We cannot keep an event of this scale under wraps indefinitely, so it is better that we get in front of it before the media has the chance to put some sort of sensationalist spin on it."

Mezo had expected as much and had no objections. He was grateful that his identity would be kept private. Perhaps he would tell his classmates, though. Some of the more observant and/or canny ones would likely deduce that it was him anyway judging by the positioning of the images.

Besides, didn't they deserve to know? It was an ordeal that they all went through together, after all.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Shoto, you had me worried sick! 'Something came up, I'll be home late?!' That's seriously all you could say?! Dad came home and said something about U.A. being attacked by Villains and some people were injured and-"

Not even fifteen seconds after Shoto Todoroki had stepped through the door he had been tackle-hugged by his older sister, Fuyumi, who was now proceeding to demonstrate how she kept her students in line by giving him an earful.

Seriously, he had sent a text. What was the big deal? Would she rather he had not said anything?

Maybe that wasn't fair. He knew that Fuyumi worried. She had sort of become the mom of the house after…after what had happened.

"Shoto."

Someone's ears must have been burning. Ironic.

"Fu, do you think you could let go? I need to talk to the old man."

She did so, albeit reluctantly.

"Right. I'll…I'll go make some tea." she headed off to the kitchen, leaving Shoto standing in the hall with his father.

"You heard what happened?"

"Yes." Endeavor confirmed, "I would like to hear your account as well, however. It is my understanding that you do not have class tomorrow."

"Yeah." it had not been a question, but Shoto responded anyway.

"Good. Then we can speak now. Come, let us sit." Endeavor led the way into the sitting room without waiting for a response and Shoto, being far too tired to spite him, followed.

Once they had taken their customary positions with Shoto on the couch and Endeavor in his recliner, the Number Two Hero threaded his fingers together and looked at his son expectantly.

So Shoto talked. He didn't go into minute details like he had for the police and he omitted certain things that he didn't feel his father needed to know, but by the time he was finished he felt as though he had given Endeavor an accurate account of what had occurred, at least to the best of his knowledge.

Fuyumi had returned partway through with their tea and had sat herself on the couch next to Shoto. This was not something she usually did, since Endeavor might have seen it as an intrusion (she was, after all, a failure as far as he was concerned), but their father did not object or even change his expression. He just sat and listened.

Shoto had not stopped after the incident had concluded. He had described how he had accompanied his classmates to the infirmary before returning to USJ to assist and how he had ended up being brought in for questioning by the police, albeit briefly.

Shoto was grateful for the tea after he had finished. He did not usually speak at such length and his throat was telling him as much. His eyes widened briefly when he tasted honey and he looked to Fuyumi, who was giving him a sad smile.

"I had a feeling it would be one of… _those_ talks, so I made it the way I do for myself after a day of lecturing. Do you like it?"

"Yeah. Thanks." the clink of Endeavor's cup being set down drew Shoto's attention back to his father.

"This matches the information that I was able to obtain and outright confirms some of my suspicions. You made the correct decision when you kept a couple of grunts conscious for interrogation and from your description your timely return to the main battle allowed your classmates to rescue your teacher. Your assistance with first-aid was also adequate. There is one thing that stands out to me, however. Can you guess what it is?"

The thing was, Shoto could. It had been in the back of his mind ever since they had arrived at the infirmary with Midoriya, but he had been able to ignore it by focusing on other things. Now that Endeavor had shoved it into his face like this though…

"Shoto. I expect a response."

"…I know what you want me to say."

Didn't mean he had to make it easy.

"If you refuse to say what must be said, then I will do it for you: Your initial attack against this 'Nomu' proved to be ineffective overall. You knew that it was a one-time thing and your teacher needed to be removed from the situation, so you acted in accordance with this need. This was the correct course of action." Endeavor unfolded his hands and placed them on the arms of his chair, straightening his back as he did so, "However, after Midoriya demonstrated that fire was effective against this Villain, incapacitating himself in the process, you did nothing to intervene. Everything worked out in the end due to a timely series of arrivals from other classmates as well as All Might himself, but you had no way of knowing that these things would happen."

"Father, don't you think that's enough?" Endeavor ignored Fuyumi's protests.

"Let me ask you, Shoto, in spite of knowing that you had the ability to combat this threat when no one else was in a position to do so, why did you refuse to use your flames? You may as well have condemned your classmate right then and there."

Shoto wanted to argue. He wanted to stand up and yell at his father that he was wrong, that he had done everything that he could possibly have done.

But he hadn't. He had stood and watched the same as everyone else while Nomu had regenerated and gotten back up. He had seen just as plainly as everyone else that Midoriya had nothing left to give.

Unlike everyone else, however, he could have _done_ something about it.

"…I-"

"Do not say that you made a vow, Shoto." Endeavor cut him off, anticipating his argument and dashing it before he had the chance to make it, "When it comes to Heroism, results are what matter first and foremost. Everything else is secondary."

Everything.

Oh, he _meant_ everything too.

Everything…and every _one_.

"Look at me, Shoto." the conflicted youth found himself unable to disobey.

"Heroes are Heroes because they have the ability to act and choose to do so. Because they give their power a purpose. Power without a purpose is meaningless and worthless. To refuse to use your fire when you have the ability to make due without it is one thing. Asinine, but not condemnable. To refuse to use it when your stubbornness could cost the life of another? That is unacceptable. When your enemy is stronger than you are, you lose the right to pick and choose. You either fight with all you have, or you condemn someone to death. It might be you, it might be an ally, it might be a civilian, or it might even be someone else in the future because the next Villain you face remembers how you held back and recognizes it as a weakness."

Endeavor rose from his chair with a look of genuine disappointment on his face.

"I want you to remember this the next time you find yourself in such a situation, Shoto, because believe me when I say that it _will_ happen again."

With that, Endeavor left the room, having nothing else to say.

 _It's not that simple…_

What else was there _to_ say?

 _It's not that SIMPLE, damnit!_

 _But…_

 _But…_

Shoto could do nothing except rest his head in his hands while Fuyumi comforted him as best she could. Soft words, a gentle touch, a feeling of love that he remembered from so long ago…

…she had no way of knowing that she was only making him feel worse.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"You did good today."

"Did I?"

"You kicked a bunch of ass and saved your best friend! If that's not a victory then someone needs to explain the definition to me again."

Katsuki Bakugo having none of it.

"I shouldn't have _had_ to save him, Mom! I should've _been_ there!"

Mitsuki's response was to smack her son on the head.

"Who do you think you are, huh? Some kind of Super Hero? Not even All Might can save everyone all the time you know?"

"DEKU'S NOT EVERYONE!"

Katsuki's outburst was accompanied by a pair of small, involuntary explosions. Even Mitsuki, who had dealt with him for his entire life, was momentarily stunned.

"You weren't _there_. You didn't _see_. It was so _close_ , Mom. If I had gotten there just two seconds later, he would've…I…I don't _care_ about everyone! If it came down to it…if I had to choose, then I'd-" he was cut off as his mother pulled him into a hug.

"Don't finish that sentence, Katsuki. Whatever you do, don't say what you were about to say."

Mitsuki was stroking her son's head like she had used to do all the time when he was younger and speaking in a low, soothing voice.

"I know you'd regret it. Heroes don't say things like that, right? What would Izuku say if he heard you say something like that?"

Katsuki knew what his best friend would say. He could picture it in his head so clearly that if he closed his eyes he could probably fool himself into thinking that Deku was right there in the room. His green eyes would be understanding, but unyielding. His voice would be even, not condescending or angry. His hand would be on Katsuki's shoulder, maybe even both of them. He would tell Katsuki that he knew he didn't mean it. He would say that he knew that his lifelong companion knew better and was just having a bad day. That wasn't the kind of thing that a Hero would say and after all, didn't Katsuki want to be the best Hero? He would say so many things that would be encouraging, pacifying, reminiscent and supportive…

…but he wouldn't say the one thing that Katsuki actually wanted to hear.

" _Kacchan, I'd do the same."_

He was tired.

He was just so goddamn _tired_.

"I just…I wish…"

"Shh…shh…" his mother shushed him as she held him, "I know…I know…"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was lying in bed, paradoxically tired but unable to sleep. He had expected as much after the extended nap that had taken up most of his day.

His mother had, predictably, been beside herself with worry. It hadn't been as bad as he would have thought, which, in hindsight, Izuku supposed that he owed to Kacchan. His friend had mentioned that he had called Inko and explained the situation to her. No doubt that had helped to take some of the edge off.

To her credit, Inko had not pestered her son for details about the incident. She was, first and foremost, concerned with the state of his injuries. Izuku had relayed what Iida had told him on the train ride back before they had parted ways.

" _Recovery Girl asked that I inform you when you awoke that you are under strict orders to avoid exerting yourself until she says otherwise. What counts as 'exertion' will depend on you, but at the very least you are to avoid exercising and roughhousing. A good rule of thumb is 'if it hurts, stop doing it.' She estimates it that you will be quite sore tomorrow and most likely the day after as well. Again, it mostly depends on you. Either way she wants to see you before you leave school the next day which…would be Friday at this point, since we have no class tomorrow."_

Inko, and Izuku for that matter, had been grateful that his injuries were not worse. Izuku theorized that part of this was due to the fact that he was not consistently injuring the same parts of his body before they had the chance to fully recover, but had not said this to his mother. That would send her train of thought down a path that he would rather it avoided.

He had given her an overview of what had occurred, which honestly did not take him as long as he had thought it would. This was most likely because he had rendered himself unconscious for the latter half of the day.

For a moment, Izuku had been uncertain how his mother would react. She eventually settled on telling him how proud of him she was and that, in her eyes, he was already a Hero for protecting everyone like he had. There had been trademarked Midoriya family tears during this, but she had eventually suggested that Izuku get whatever rest he could.

So it was that Izuku found himself lying wide awake on his bed at three in the morning.

"Geez, if this is what insomnia is like then I pity whoever has it for real. This sucks. Don't you agree, Izuku?"

"Why yes, I do, Other Izuku. You'd better either fall asleep or find something else to do because I think you might be going a little crazy."

"I was beginning to suspect as much, but didn't want to assume the worst."

"Take it from an an unbiased third party then."

"With all due respect, Other Izuku, you are neither unbiased nor a third party."

"Well, your other option is to go see a shrink and I doubt you'll find one at three-oh-two in the morning."

"I dunno, what do you think the odds are that we'd run into a Vigilante with a psychotherapeutic Quirk?"

"What do you think the odds are that there's a Vigilante who _knows how_ to use a psychotherapeutic Quirk?"

"I suppose that's true. With that kind of Quirk they probably wouldn't be a Vigilante."

"Sigmund Fraud: Rogue Therapist."

"Tell me, Villain, how does that make you feel?"

* **vmmm vmmm** *

 _Oh, thank god, a distraction!_

Izuku picked up his phone and noticed that he had just received a text message from…Uraraka?

 _Since when does she have my number? Since when do I have HER number?!_

He hastily unlocked his phone and opened up his messaging app. He saw that her icon was a shooting star.

Star: Deku-kun? U awake? If ur not, then I'm sorry!

All Might: No, it's alright. Can't sleep. Must be because of that nap. BTW, sorry to ask this, but how did you get my number?

Star: Oh! Bakugo gave it to me on the train b4 I got off. Thought he would've told u. Sorry. I'm having sleep problems too. Keep waking up. Thought u might b too.

All Might: Gotcha. No he didn't tell me. I haven't been able to sleep a wink. Are you doing okay?

Star: That's my line! U got hurt, not me!

All Might: I'm fine. It's like Iida said: I'm just sore.

Star: Oh.

Crap, she sounded depressed. Izuku needed to think of something.

All Might: Mind if I ask you a question?

All Might: Why a star?

Star: ?

All Might: Your avatar. It's a shooting star.

Star: OH! Well, I like stargazing. Always have.

All Might: O rly?

Star: Yup! They're pretty and they just make u feel so peaceful, u know?

All Might: Huh. I've never actually tried it.

Star: ?!

Star: U need to!

Star: Oh, but u can't rly do it around here…

All Might: Too much light pollution, right?

Star: Do u know everything? Jk.

Star: Ur right though. It has to b somewhere less urban.

Star: …

All Might: ?

Star: Do u want maybe to go sometime?

Star: It's Golden Week soon we could maybe…idk…

Oh shit.

OH SHIT.

Was she asking him out on a _date_?!

 _Okay, Izuku, deep breaths. Ow. Okay, too deep. Just because she's asking you to spend time with her doesn't mean it's a date. It's just going to be two friends…alone…under the stars…in, like, the most romantic situation imaginable._

… _Okay so it sounds a lot like a date. Oh god! I wasn't expecting this! I'm not PREPARED for this! HELP ME, OTHER IZUKU!_

 _Okay, calm down! Just break it down to the essential point: Do you want to go on a date with Uraraka-san?_

 _I…uh…yes?_

 _Are you asking or telling?_

Star: Deku-kun? You asleep?

All Might: No, sorry, dropped phone. I would love to go stargazing with you, Uraraka-san.

Who just typed that? Did _he_ just type that? His fingers had felt like they were moving on their own!

Star: Yay! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! We can talk details later. I know exactly where we'll go! It was my favorite spot when I was little! We can take the bullet train to Nagano and then it's only a few miles of hiking! Or maybe there's a bus? There wasn't back then but…I'm rambling.

Wow, she was _really_ excited about this. That…made him feel good, actually. Really good.

All Might: It's fine. I'm looking forward to it too.

They spent the next hour or so texting before her responses stopped and Izuku assumed she had fallen asleep. He managed to get a few hours himself in the end.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku was woken up the next morning by his phone doing its best to vibrate itself off of his nightstand. A quick glance at his clock told him that it was almost ten, which was far later than he usually woke up. Good thing there was no school.

When he unlocked his phone, Izuku saw that he had been added to a group chat called "Lord Explosion and His Flunkies."

"Kacchan, what did you do?" Izuku opened the chat with a mixture of interest and dread. The chat had existed for about an hour, as it turned out, and there were six participants, himself included. He recognized Kacchan and Uraraka from their avatars, but there was also a pair of glasses, an octopus and a potato.

Grenade: Attention, Bitches! Ur lord has summoned u!

Potato: lol wtf is that chat name?

Grenade: Wanted it 2 b "Lord Explosion and His Bitches" but apparently chat names r censored.

Glasses: I should certainly hope so! I could ever have such an uncouth chat name in my history!

Potato: iida is that you?

Potato: hi

Glasses: Indeed it is. Who might you be?

Potato: wut? can't u tell? iz kirishima

Glasses: Kirishima-san? Why is your avatar a potato?

Potato: lolwut? iz a rock

Grenade: LOL! U dumbass! That's a potato!

Octopus: It does appear to be a potato, Kirishima-san. Also this is Shoji. Hello.

Glasses: Ah! Greetings, Shoji-san! Do I take this to mean that you are the final member of our sextet?

Grenade: Seemed appropriate. He has six arms.

-message deleted-

Octopus: Bakugo-san, why did you delete that?

Grenade: Because we can talk about that at lunch tomorrow. U said that it would happen today, right? Keep it a surprise.

Octopus: …I suppose.

Glasses: To what are you referring?

Grenade: Can't u read? It's a surprise, dumbass.

Potato: ohai shoji. lol, u said sex. wait, surprise? wat surprise?

Potato: also i cant change my avatar someone help me

Potato: plz

Grenade: U can't change it. U r forever Potato Man. Sux 4 u.

Potato: nuuuu

All Might: Oh come on, Kacchan. You know that's not true. He could fix it by leaving and then re-joining ad choosing a different avatar.

Grenade: GDI Deku.

Glasses: Midoriya-san! Good morning! How are you feeling?

Potato: wut he said^

Octopus: Hello, Midoriya-san.

Star: I'm awake! Oh wow, look at all those messages. Brb catching up.

All Might: Thanks everyone! I'm doing better. Just sore.

Grenade: Alright, now that everyone's here ur probably all wondering why I made this.

Grenade: Well it was primarily because all of u would have blown up my phone asking how Deku was otherwise.

Octopus: Won't this still blow up your phone?

Grenade: …

Potato: lol

Star: Lol he thought it was a rock.

Potato: q.q

Grenade: Well this way it blows up all ur phones. Not just mine. Plus it's a good way for me to give orders to my subjects.

Glasses: I beg your pardon?

Star: LOL Potato Man XD

All Might: Just ignore him.

Grenade: SPDSOPOKJCXL:L"K:HNKDFG WHAT?!

Grenade: DEKU! GET OVER HERE AND SAY THAT!

All Might: Nuh-uh. You come over here and I'll say that. I'm under strict orders to avoid strenuous activity.

Grenade: DON'T THINK I WON'T U DAMN NERD!

All Might: Says you "Mr number one in class." Oh wait, according to middle school GPAs that's Yaoyorozu.

Glasses: My word!

Potato: burn. total burn

Octopus: Are they always like this?

Star: I…think so?

Glasses: …My family is looking at me funny.

Grenade: What, did u throw ur phone doing that hand thing u always do?

Glasses: No, they've just never seen me chatting this much on my phone.

Glasses: I've never really had a group of friends like this before.

All Might: OMG YOU TOO?!

Glasses: What?! No, surely you had friends! How could you not?

All Might: Not really it was just me and Kacchan. Anyone else I hung around was more hanging around him than me.

All Might: But what about you, Iida-san?! You're so cool and reliable!

Glasses: That's kind of you to say, but…

Potato: dude. my heart.

Star: I know, it's so adorable but at the same time it's so sad!

Octopus: It wasn't that bad really. I never minded.

All Might: Shoji-san, you too?!

Grenade: Oh come on, that 1 makes sense! They probably all thought he looked weird or something.

Octopus: No, actually. They all thought I was watching them because of my Quirk.

Glasses: How incredibly prejudiced of them.

Potato: word.

Star: Seriously, just because of that? Did any of them even bother asking u?

Octopus: Oh, do not be mistaken, I was.

Octopus: Watching them, that is.

Grenade: Wait, what?

Potato: ^

All Might: ^

Octopus: It was Quirk training. I had to practice keeping an eye on multiple people and conversations at once and school seemed like a good place to do that. My grades suffered a little at first but I got the hang of it eventually.

Glasses: You mean to say that you sacrificed years of potential friendships in order to hone your abilities for the day they would be needed the most?

Octopus: Yes.

Potato: that's commitment right there.

Potato: props

Star: Wow, I feel like I rly underestimated u, Shoji-san!

Grenade: Shit, man. That's intense.

All Might: It's inspirational! I need to add that to my notebook!

Grenade: Deku, that was why u didn't have friends, remember?

Potato: wat notebook?

Star: Deku-kun, what's he talking about?

Glasses: I confess that I am also curious.

Grenade: Christ, here we go…

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The rest of Izuku's day played out in more or less the same manner. Restricted as he was by his injuries, he spent the day at home and was actually by himself for a large portion of it while his mother was out working. In between contributing to the group chat, which was a lot of fun, he did some homework, watched TV, worked on a couple of sketches and other such things. It was nice, in a way, but he felt strange not doing his usual exercises.

Kacchan ended up coming over and hanging out for a few hours, citing a lack of anything else to do. During that time, he filled Izuku in on what had happened after he had fallen unconscious.

Izuku was relieved to hear that his information seemed to have helped All Might to overcome Nomu and was suitably embarrassed to hear that he had spent a good amount of time using Uraraka's lap as a pillow.

Inko came home while Kacchan was still there and invited him to stay for dinner, which he did. Strangely, he advised them to turn on the evening news right when it started. The reason for this became clear when they got to that night's main story: the invasion of U.A.

The story was presented using a combination of still images that looked to have been taken while the attack was in-progress somehow along with an eyewitness account that had been taken by the police the previous evening. Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Nomu, Eraserhead's valiant struggle, Izuku's last stand (name redacted and face censored) and All Might coming to save the day. It was all there.

"Wait a moment…" Izuku realized partway through the story, which all three of them were watching intently, "these images…are these from Shoji-san? Is this the surprise?"

"Yep. He went to talk to the police and I guess there was someone there with a Quirk that could copy images from his mind. He told me earlier this morning when I was putting the chat together. I didn't actually have his number so I had to text around and get his contact info. Ended up being the Class President that had it, go figure. I was just trying to verify his number but I guess he was bursting at the seams to tell someone. Said he felt obligated or something."

"Izuku, I know you told me most of this yesterday but somehow I didn't realize how…frightening…all of these Villains were." Inko was clearly disturbed by the three heavy-hitters of the League of Villains.

"Pah, they were all talk, Inko-san." Kacchan attempted to reassure her, "Bunch of mooks. Even that big guy was just a glorified punching bag once All Might showed up. Hell, even Deku almost took him out."

Inko appreciated his words, but she still seemed off-put when Kacchan went home and Izuku went to bed. It was still a little early, but he knew he would need to try and catch up on some sleep if he could.

Izuku's phone vibrated and he saw that it was a text message from Uraraka.

Star: Deku-kun, are you still awake?

All Might: Yes, was just about to turn in. Why?

Mere moments after he had sent his response, his phone started vibrating and showing an incoming call from Uraraka. Izuku answered it reflexively, though he was caught off-guard.

"Uraraka-san?"

"Good evening, Deku-kun."

Her voice was so close to his ear that it was as though she was right next to him, whispering into it. Izuku was struck by just how intimate it felt and he realized that this was the first time he had spoken to a girl on the phone.

"Ah, good evening. What did you want to talk about, Uraraka-san?"

"I…nothing. Something. Anything." she sounded scared. Why did she sound scared?

"Is something wrong?"

"…Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Yes. I'm trying to find the right words. Just…talk to me. Please?" something was seriously wrong here.

"Well, let's see…did you see the news? Kacchan was over visiting and he told me that Shoji was the one who gave the police a lot of that information."

"Yeah, I saw it. They did a good job with it. Ratings are probably through the roof."

"Kacchan also filled me in on what happened while I was out."

"Did he?"

"Yeah. I guess we ended up being even, huh? I was sleeping on you then I woke up to have _you_ sleeping on _me_."

"I guess…" this wasn't right. This wasn't the usual Uraraka. Izuku frantically cast around for something else to talk about. Anything.

"Yeah! Um…I guess I also owe you a 'thank you.'"

"Huh?"

"Well, Kacchan told me that you were watching over me the entire time. Not just at USJ but in the infirmary too. He said you hardly moved the whole time. While I'd never ask you to do something like that…it still means a lot that you did, if that makes sense?"

"Oh. Yeah, that's true."

"Well, thank you. He also said though…that you seemed really down. Kind of like you do right now, if I'm being honest. You've got me really, really concerned and I'd like to help you if I can so…please tell me what's wrong, Uraraka-san."

"I will. I want to, but not like this. Not over the phone. Could you…could you maybe come to school early tomorrow? We could talk then. I just…I can't right now. I thought I could, but I can't. Just like last night. I thought maybe if I called you and heard your voice that it would be easier but…it's not. I'm sorry, Deku-kun, I'm probably just confusing you even more. I shouldn't have called."

Izuku was, indeed, very confused right then. There was one point he disagreed with very strongly, however.

"Don't say that."

"What?"

"If you ever need someone to talk to, you should know that I'm there for you. I might not always be able to help and I might not always understand but…don't ever say that you shouldn't have called. Or texted. Or whatever. I mean, hey, I'm still looking forward to going stargazing with you."

For the next few moments, all Izuku heard on the other end was deep, purposeful, rhythmic breathing that might have been more than a little shaky.

"Thank you, Deku-kun. I…just thank you."

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bright and early."

"Okay. Goodnight, Deku-kun."

"Goodnight, Uraraka-san."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku was up and out the door the next morning before his mother was even completely awake. If he remembered the train schedule correctly, he would arrive at U.A. about an hour early doing things this way. Hopefully that would be long enough for whatever Uraraka needed. If it wasn't, then maybe he would just have to be late for homeroom. He could blame his injuries, claiming that they slowed him down that morning. Let whoever the stand-in was try to blame him for _saving his teacher's life_.

Wow. Where did _that_ come from? Was he grumpy? This was not the day to be grumpy.

In the end, Izuku decided that he was simply a man on a mission and woe betide anyone who got in his way. His friend needed him.

The fact that said friend was Uraraka was completely irrelevant.

Izuku did, indeed, end up at the U.A. grounds roughly an hour early. He set about finding a good place for his talk with Uraraka when he noticed something that caused his eyes to widen.

There, on a bench underneath a large tree off to one side of the massive courtyard, was a girl who was curled up, hugging her knees to herself with her face buried in them.

How long had she been there? How early had she arrived? How little sleep had she gotten?

Izuku began to suspect that things were even worse than he had previously surmised and walked hurriedly over to Uraraka, dropping his backpack on the ground by the bench and kneeling down to put his hands on her shoulders.

"Uraraka-san?"

She looked up at him and what Izuku saw made him feel like he had suffered a blow to the chest. Her eyes were red and puffy with bags under them. There were tear tracks running down her cheeks and she seemed to be having difficulty focusing on his face.

She looked like hell, in other words.

"Deku…good morning."

"Uraraka-san, I need you to tell me what's wrong and I need you to tell me right now, okay?" Izuku did his very best to keep his voice level. He really did.

But he was beginning to freak out a little.

"When we were at USJ…Bakugo told you that you were resting on my lap, right? Todoroki was there too. He was going back and forth between you and Aizawa-sensei."

"Yeah, he told me about that."

"Well, while you were out…Deku, I swear I haven't told anyone else. You need to believe me, okay? I haven't told anyone else about this!"

She was sitting up properly now and her fists had balled themselves up in the front of Izuku's uniform jacket.

"Uraraka-san, I believe you, but _please_ tell me what's going on!"

"While we were still at USJ," she began after a long, slow breath, "while I was watching you…Deku, you were in so much pain that you were barely breathing. Sometimes I thought you were coming to and sometimes you looked like you were sleeping, but the whole time I could just barely feel your breathing if I focused really hard on it. But one time…one time was worse than the others. It was…" she looked at him and her eyes started to well up despite her efforts to keep a straight face, "Deku, _you stopped breathing_. You were so still…just so, so still that I thought…" she shuddered and Izuku's jaw went slack as the full impact of her words hit him.

"You started breathing again before I could say or do anything, which is why nobody else knows. It couldn't have been for more than a few seconds but…but nobody else saw. Nobody else _knew_! Not even Todoroki and he was _right there_ when it happened! So…that's why I did what I did. That's why I refused to leave. I was so, so scared and I didn't want to risk that happening again! I know that it's stupid. Once Recovery Girl had healed you, I knew that you were in the clear but…I don't know. I just couldn't leave." she gave Izuku a trembling smile that damn near broke his heart.

"That's why I kept reaching out to you, you know? I couldn't sleep. I kept having nightmares where you…where you _didn't_ start breathing again, or where I left the infirmary and came back to find that you'd…" the tears started falling then, "I didn't…I couldn't…I don't want-!"

Izuku did the only thing he could think to do.

He pulled Uraraka to him and held on as tightly as his injured ribs would allow, letting her cry her heart out on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." he said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

What else could he say? What else could he do?

Nothing presented itself to him, so he resolved to just remain where he was for as long as it took.

Because his friend needed him.

The fact that said friend was Uraraka made it all the more important.

* * *

 **Geez, the overall tone here ended up being a lot sadder than I anticipated. Well, it was a traumatic event so I guess it only makes sense that the students would be dealing with the fallout now that their lives aren't immediately in danger and they've had time to process. I feel like we need stuff like this occasionally; it helps to humanize the characters and it drives the point home that this isn't just your typical Shonen story where kids get traumatized for breakfast and walk it off by lunch.**

 **No, here it takes them until dinner. Maybe dessert.**

 **I super appreciate all of the suggestions you guys have been giving me regarding the Sports Festival! Keep 'em coming!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	19. Chapter 19: Title Drop

**Well, this ended up being the longest chapter in a while. I'm uploading this document at 1:15AM because I just wanted to get it finished XD**

 **Review Time:**

 **ShiningStar32: Welcome aboard and I'm very glad to hear that you're enjoying it so far! I hope you continue to do so.**

 **Jack Inqu: Shoji doesn't get the respect he deserves a lot of the time, so I wanted to fix that. Same deal with Endeavor being a jerkass but still having legit things to say since he's, you know, the Number Two Hero.**

 **I tried to strike a balance with the group chat where I didn't go _too_ overboard with the...chatty-ness of it but still kept it feeling legitimate. I'm glad that you enjoyed it overall because I intend to have more of it here and there. It's fun. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Markus-Antonius: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one too.**

 **the_narr_master: I'm very pleased that I can provide a good way to start your Sundays. I totally know the part you're talking about in HP too. I'm pretty sure it was the mountain troll incident in year one, right?**

 **I'm very happy that the way I'm doing things makes sense and feels consistent, and I am VERY pleased that you enjoy this more than canon so far. I hope that I can continue with this level of quality. And no worries about me randomly jumping ahead weeks at a time. There's enough that I can do to fill the gaps that that simply won't happen.**

 **bhennen: Thank you! Don't worry I don't feel like you're trying to tell me how to write it. This is actually a good suggestion and makes a lot of sense. I'll definitely consider using it. (In fact, there _was_ one little thing that another fic did that I really liked and this might help me make it happen here too.)**

 **NPGamer11: I showed this to my roommate and we both had a good laugh from the mood-whiplash between the two posts, so I just wanna say thank you for that. Thank you as well for this _extremely_ high praise. This is certainly one of those things that I try very hard to do well, since it could be disastrous to get wrong.**

 **sremiehzla: Thank you! I believe that our following will continue to grow with time. Before long we might even end up on page one! It's all thanks to you guys. I'm looking forward to the Sports Festival too!**

 **The 0bservanc3: No worries, my memory is absolute garbage when it comes to certain things so I feel you.**

 **Human Lie Detector is Tsukauchi's canon Quirk, though we have not yet been shown exactly how it works. Stenoport I made up using a suggestion from a reviewer that I tweaked a bit. As of right now, I am not planning on using a traitor. There's a really big hint dropped in this chapter as to how the info was obtained. I quite honestly have no idea about Mezo's family. Canon makes no mention of his living situation and I have seen no fics that do anything with it either. Maybe I'll have him in a similar situation to Ochako where he has an apartment? It would make sense that she wouldn't be the only one. This might not actually ever get mentioned in-story so...Word of God until then.**

 **I'm taking Rei's comment on the children "becoming more like him" with a grain of salt since she was clearly unstable by that point. From what I've seen of Fuyumi she's a caring person but has a bit of steel in her as well (which would serve her well, since she's a teacher). If I'm not careful my Enji could become the mascot for the "Jerkass Has A Point" trope. For sure Shoto is learning a couple of lessons the hard way.**

 **Similarly to how it's not a Midoriya family conversation without someone crying and/or worrying, it's not a Bakugo family conversation without coarse language and/or someone exploding. I'm glad that the emotional impact resonated with you and I think that you might be correct in your thinking of what I'm thinking. I think.**

 **Izuku was indeed lying on his bed and talking out loud to himself (albeit quietly enough to not bother his mom). I talk out loud to myself all the time, but it's okay. I know I'm crazy. As for the number getting there, it was actually Bakugo that did it on the train ride home when he gave Ochako Izuku's number.**

 **The jig is, indeed, up at this point regarding IzuOcha. Then again, it did take us eighteen chapters to get there XD Honestly, the potato thing just kind of occurred to me as a stupid, funny thing that could happen and I ran with it.**

 **Ochako was indeed having nightmares and anxiety that was preventing her from sleeping, which did not in turn do her any favors with said issues. She'll get better though. I hope you enjoy!**

 **bigdogneversleeps: I'm glad you enjoyed the group chat. I do intend to have more stuff like that in the future. As for Shoji, only time will tell. I'm glad you enjoyed Other Izuku. I can certainly see about using him for other things. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Humming Brook: I understand your reasoning and I respect it. Thank you and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Fishbaby: I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Limitless, but it sounds interesting from this alone.**

 **Ignis11: I am glad to know that you agree with me on this. I try to keep my use of suspension of disbelief to manageable levels.**

 **Stranger823543: This does not sound rude at all, no worries. It is a valid suggestion. However it would also provide a large pain in the butt for me to PM everyone, so my solution is to make sure that all Author's Notes are bolded so that people can easily skip over them if they want to. I do hope you continue to enjoy the story though!**

 **Lorelei evans: I'm glad to know you are a fan of The Potato Hero: Red Riot. I just kind of had that idea and ran with it XD**

 **Now, let's check in on everyone's favorite handyman, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Title Drop

"Damn it!" a pale fist slammed onto the bar, leaving a dull echo that reverberated through the establishment for an unnaturally long time.

"Damn it!" a stool was kicked over and it rolled several feet before fetching up against an empty booth that still held the remains of a light pre-mission meal.

"Damn it!" a disembodied hand was thrown carelessly into a corner where it was swiftly followed by another, then another and yet another. This occurred a total of eight times before Tomura Shigaraki removed one particular hand from his face and stopped himself mid-throw.

No. Not that one. Not Father.

"Haaah…" the exhalation was half sigh, half growl, but it apparently signaled to Kurogiri that enough of his temper had abated for him to be safely addressed.

"Forgive me, Tomura Shigara-* **hurk** *!" both of Tomura's hands had found their way around Kurogiri's metallic neck-brace, thumbs poised a fraction of an inch away from the surface.

Kurogiri had sorely misread the situation.

Apparently not for the first time that day, either. Or was that yesterday at that point? They had needed to take the long way back since Kurogiri was injured. Apparently, certain things could screw with his ability to use his Quirk and that was one of them. Turned out that neck brace wasn't just for show.

But that wasn't important right then. No, now that they were back on safe ground, there was something that Tomura needed to address.

"Kurogiri." his voice was clear and level but it had an underlying edge to it which, when combined with the snarl that was tugging at one corner of his mouth, made it abundantly clear that Tomura was far from calm. Indeed, he was _so_ enraged that he had come full-circle and once again bore a semblance of self-control.

"What. The _fuck_. Was _that_?" he was trying, he really was.

But he needed an answer and he needed it _now_.

"All of our cannon fodder is either dead or captured. That's fine; they were a resource and they were used. This _was_ a raid, after all. We never expected to get through it without having to use some consumables on the way. The kids all survived. That's fine too, though I really think someone needs to check their dice with how many crits that must have taken."

"But you know which two things _really_ hit home, Kurogiri? You know which two things _really_ chap my hide? We lost Nomu and _All Might doesn't_ _ **even have a FUCKING SCRATCH ON HIM!**_ " Kurogiri's only response was to remain absolutely still for fear of having his entire body disintegrated from the neck out.

"How could this have happened? Do you have any idea, Kurogiri?" Tomura had adopted a softer, legitimately curious tone, "I mean, we had a plan, right? What's more, it was a _good_ plan if I do say so myself. I spent enough time on it that I was allowed to take twenty, so it damn well _better_ have been a good plan, right?" he shook Kurogiri forcefully enough that he nodded involuntarily, "Right. So glad you agree."

"So, we had the manpower. We had the consumables. We had the plan and you know what? We even had a _surprise round_ because of the batshit crazy bonus our newest recruit has to Disguise and Bluff checks. Everything was going wonderfully. In fact, everything was going _so_ well that the GM felt the need to beef up the encounter a little bit by adding Eraserhead for _some_ reason."

Tomura cocked his head and a thoughtful expression crossed his face.

"Honestly, he wouldn't have been my first choice. If I wanted to make things harder for the PC's in a situation like that I'd have gone with someone who was better at crowd control like Midnight. Do you know what that tells me, Kurogiri?" his attention was back on the mist-faced man in front of him who was dressed like a bartender when he wasn't in battle mode, "That tells me that all of our hard work was actually being _rewarded_ for a change. The GM _saw_ that we had a huge advantage, but they respected our prep work _so much_ that they only put forth a token effort to make things more difficult. In short: we had _everything going for us_."

"So, I'm going to ask you a very simple question: What. The fuck. Happened? We weren't able to use our plan at _all_ because by the time All Might showed up you had _somehow_ managed to get yourself _captured_ by a bunch of _students_ and a _Rescue Hero_ who has hardly fought a day _in their life_." it was getting really, _really_ hard not to yell.

"So, what went wrong? Did you roll a nat one? Were they all over-levelled? Did you take Wisdom and Intelligence as _goddamn DUMP STATS_?!"

"…I underestimated them." Tomura's fingers twitched.

"Care to elaborate?" even without a visible face, it was clear that Kurogiri would have been sweating.

"I believed the primary threat to be Thirteen, since they were the only one to take immediate offensive action against me, as well as being the one who was coordinating the others. I very nearly defeated them as well, but one of the students intervened, having apparently predicted my actions. I was taken by surprise and in that moment was subjected to a team attack. I could have escaped but Thirteen's Black Hole is apparently capable of sucking up my Warp Gates. Once I realized this fact I had been captured and held hostage by the girl who…" he touched the hole in his neck brace and hissed with pain at the acid burn he had suffered, "…did _this_ to me."

"Yeah." Tomura nodded slowly, remembering that girl in particular, "Pink-skinned acid bitch. I thought I had everyone good and distracted when you made a break for it, but her reaction time was something else. She must have put a feat into opportunity attacks or something."

He shook his head, reminding himself that he was supposed to be furious right now. He could consider the mechanics behind everyone later.

"Back to the main point, actually: All Might. Nomu was next to useless against him." Tomura turned his head to look at a small television that was on one end of the bar, "You said that he was as powerful as All Might and that, with his Quirks, he'd be more than a match for him! You also said that All Might has been getting _weaker_! He was just fine when I saw him! You were _wrong_ , Sensei!"

"No, I was not." a deep, smooth voice emanated from the television, "We simply got ahead of ourselves a little and suffered some misfortune. We underestimated not only All Might, but U.A. as a whole. As for Nomu, he was never designed to combat All Might single-handedly; he was designed to absorb his attacks and hold him down while you executed the plan. His lack of intelligence and thus, critical thinking skills, left him ill-suited for a battle against someone who was his equal."

"Right, because _everybody_ knows that having the heaviest hitter in the party be a _complete moron_ isn't asking for trouble at all!"

"Tomura. Are you suggesting that I made an error when I created Nomu to fit the necessary specifications for _your_ plan?"

It was as though an invisible miasma was oozing out of the television, filling the room with a palpable sense of dread. Killing intent that could be felt from voice alone sent a shiver down Tomura's spine and he was reminded that his teacher, while indulgent and supportive, was _not_ one to be trifled with.

"No, Sensei. Forgive me. I have had a trying day." with that, Tomura released Kurogiri, who sighed with relief.

"I understand completely. It is a shame that you were not able to recover Nomu after all of the trouble I went through to make him as strong as All Might, but it cannot be helped."

"Strong, huh…" Tomura suddenly remembered a few other students, but one in particular leapt out at him. Perhaps it had something to do with how he had attempted to kill him with no hesitation?

"Sensei, there was one student there who managed to damage Nomu badly enough that it took a few moments for his regen to catch up."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. The way he threw himself in front of us like that…he kinda reminded me of All Might. Had some serious lung power on him too with how forceful that wave of fire was." now Tomura was getting angry again, "You know, without him getting in our way, Nomu probably could've freed Kurogiri before All Might showed up. We still could've used the plan! We still might've had a chance to kill All Might! But…but that damn brat had to go and-!"

"There is no purpose to be served in lamenting that which has already come to pass, Tomura!" his teacher's voice cut him off mid-rant, "I believe wholeheartedly that this undertaking was not a complete loss. We have learned that instead of quantity, we should be aiming for quality in our troops. All you must do then is find more powerful recruits! Take all the time you need. I will help you if you become lost, but I expect you to handle this on your own. By gaining new experiences, you will grow into the symbol that I know you can be!"

"Yeah." Tomura found himself nodding in agreement, "Yeah, that's right. All Might might've gotten away undamaged, but so did I!" the bruise from Eraserhead's punch notwithstanding, "It'll be fine. It'll be alright. I'll make sure the world recognizes me _and_ the League of Villains for what we are!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya walked down the hall leading towards room 1-A, rolling his shoulders experimentally. Recovery Girl had given him a small dose of healing to help his ribs along, but he was still a bit sore and hadn't quite comfortably regained full range of motion.

In one hand he held two pieces of paper, both signed by Recovery Girl. One was a hall pass for himself so he wouldn't get into trouble for being late and the other was an explanatory note on Uraraka's behalf.

Izuku frowned as his mind returned to the scene on the grounds from earlier that morning. He felt terrible that he had worried Uraraka so much and had been able to do so little for her. They had remained in place for nearly an hour until her breathing had finally evened out, at which point he had led her by the hand to the infirmary. For one thing, he was due there himself anyway and for another, Uraraka looked absolutely terrible. She clearly needed rest and a once-over from Recovery Girl probably wouldn't hurt either.

She had protested, of course, when Recovery Girl told her in no uncertain terms to lie down and have a nap.

" _What? No! I'm fine, really! This whole thing has just been me being dumb. I don't want to make a big deal out of it!"_

" _Young lady, Midoriya has informed me that you have hardly slept in the past two days. You are physically and emotionally exhausted and you_ will _lie there in that bed for no less than two hours before I permit you to leave."_

Needless to say, that had settled the matter. One simply did _not_ argue with a nurse of any kind when she spoke to you with that particular tone unless you were looking to be drugged into submission.

Izuku realized offhandedly that this would be the first time that he was ever late to any of his classes. Ordinarily, this would have been a huge deal to him but for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to care.

Huh. That was new.

What else had changed? Izuku had been so focused on chasing his dream that he hadn't really taken the time to ask himself that question. It just hadn't seemed that important. Of course he was going to change; that was the whole point. He was going to become as much like All Might as possible and become a worthy successor to his idol. To that end he needed to be stronger, smarter, faster, tougher, more skilled, more reliable, and a dozen other things besides.

…But what if that wasn't all there was to it? What if he had only scratched the surface of what it _really_ meant to be a Hero?

The "USJ Incident," as it had been dubbed by the media, had not been Izuku's first encounter with Villains, nor had it been the first time he had risked his life against a Villain. That honor went to the Sludge Villain on the day that had changed Izuku's life what seemed like such a long time ago now.

So, what was different? Why did he feel so…detached? He looked back on the Sludge Villain and remembered his fear and the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He remembered the look of desperation on Kacchan's face and how he had been prepared to immolate himself if it meant that he could help his friend. He remembered it all so well that if he closed his eyes he could still smell the burning buildings and taste the dust that had been kicked up by the destroyed street.

So why? Why did that incident stir such feelings within him while this one only inspired a sort of clinical fascination? For crying out loud, he had almost _died_! He had come closer than he had ever realized before Uraraka had filled in the blanks for him. He had accepted that he was most likely done for when Nomu had begun to regenerate. The last thing he remembered before he had suddenly found himself warning All Might in a brief moment of lucidity had been Nomu approaching him and preparing to end his life.

Was he traumatized? Was this his way of dealing with that sort of thing? Just…removing himself from the equation and rationalizing all of it?

Well, if it was then Izuku could accept it. After all, he felt fine overall and he wasn't the important one here anyway; everyone else was. If he had the ability to just deal with everything and move on, then all that meant was that he could spend more of his time being useful to the ones who mattered.

Except he hadn't done a very good job of that, apparently. The still-damp shoulder of his jacket was a testament to that. He had given his all to protect his classmates and teacher, but in doing so had caused an entirely different type of harm to at least one of them.

And that was unacceptable.

All Might never did things like that. He won and he made everyone feel like everything would be okay afterwards, even when he was hurt or tired. He was a beacon of hope and the Symbol of Peace.

Yes, Izuku still had a lot of work to do and if Wednesday's events were any indication, there was no such thing as fast enough when it came to completing said work.

Plus Ultra. That was the only thing for it. He would just have to push himself harder and-

No.

No, he had tried that once before. Back before he ever received One For All, when he had still been focusing entirely on physical conditioning. It had not ended well.

He had _learned_ that lesson. Why was he regressing _now_?

… _Maybe I'm a bit more messed up right now than I thought?_

This train of thought was interrupted by the fact that he had now reached his classroom and was in the process of opening the door. He was surprised to hear Aizawa's voice, having thought that his teacher would at least be out of commission for a little while.

"You all need to understand that an event like this isn't the sort of thing that gets cancelled because a few Villains decided to get uppity. For students like you, this will be the single greatest opportunity you'll get to- hmm?"

Aizawa cut himself off as he noticed Izuku enter the classroom and turned to look at him. One of his arms was in a thick cast supported by a sling while his ginger movements led Izuku to assume that underneath his costume his torso would be heavily bandaged as well. In spite of his obvious discomfort, Class 1-A's homeroom teacher wore the same tired expression as usual. He held out his hand to Izuku expectantly as a few of the more excitable students made various exclamations of relief and welcome.

Izuku dutifully handed him the hall pass and the note, both of which were briefly glanced over, crumpled up and thrown away.

"Alright, Midoriya, you're in the clear. Get to your seat and try not to cause too much of a commotion. I was just in the middle of announcing that the Sports Festival is coming up soon."

Izuku stumbled on the way back to his desk and had it not been for Shoji and Hagakure's timely intervention, he would have fallen flat on his face.

The reason for this was that he had managed to completely forget about the U.A. Sports Festival with everything else that had happened. The Sports Festival was, to put it lightly, an absolutely _huge_ event that would capture the attention of the entire _country_. Pro Heroes from all over would be in attendance with the purpose of scouting potential Sidekicks or interns for their respective agencies, not to mention the massive amount of publicity that one could get if they did well enough.

In short, it was a really, really big deal and they would only have three shots at it as U.A. students.

No pressure.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"I know you all have things to do, so I'll keep this brief." Tsukauchi stated as he fanned out his papers slightly to allow for easier access, "The one called Shigaraki possesses a Quirk that allows him to disintegrate anything he touches. We've been through the list of every man in their twenties and thirties in the Quirk Registry, but we couldn't turn anything up on him. Nothing on Kurogiri, the Warp Gate user, either."

Toshinori Yagi frowned as he looked over his own copy of Tsukauchi's notes while his colleagues seated around the conference table did the same. It was himself, Nezu, Snipe, Midnight and Blood King, who had apparently given his homeroom students study hall in order to be there.

Tsukauchi had been a valuable friend of Toshinori's for some years thanks in part to the fact that he was aware of All Might's true form and could help cover for him when necessary. He also took care of a large portion of the paperwork generated by All Might's spontaneous acts of Heroism, which was very much appreciated.

"All we really know about them is that neither is registered and they are both using aliases." Tsukauchi continued, "This makes them members of the underworld. Influential ones too, apparently, given that we apprehended no fewer than seventy-two Villains at USJ the other day. If we assume that they were the only two to escape, that brings the League's minimal manpower to seventy-four before the incident."

"Shoot, son," Snipe's voice was partially distorted thanks to the tan gasmask he wore as part of his costume, "you mean that cowpoke was able to rustle up a posse like that without anyone o' us knowin'? I reckon we outta do our darndest to round up some more info 'fore that leader o' theirs tries somethin' like that again! We still got no idea how in tarnation they pulled it off the first time!"

"Their leader, huh…" Toshinori half-mumbled to himself. Nevertheless, it caught Nezu's attention from where he sat next to him.

"What is it, All Might?"

"It's just…this whole incident rubs me the wrong way. I don't just mean the fact that we were infiltrated and that our students were in danger and I don't just mean the obvious level of meticulous planning that went into it either. It's just that when I take all of that and I consider that Shigaraki character…it just doesn't add up."

Toshinori was struggling to find the correct words. Fortunately, his peers were patient with him.

"From the brief exchange we had after I arrived, it would be simple enough to write him off as some deranged lunatic who just so happens to have a personal vendetta against me. The discussion he had with Thirteen and young Shoji, at least thanks to the report that Tsukauchi-kun was kind enough to provide us all with, suggests that there is far more to him than there appears to be. For instance, one of the first things he said to Thirteen was that he had no real interest in killing anyone except for me."

"There's no way you'd be gullible enough to _buy_ that, All Might!" Blood King said incredulously, "His plan just before that was to start killing students because he thought it would get you there more quickly!"

"Now, just a moment." Nezu cut in with his beady eyes slightly wider than normal, "From what we know, did Shigaraki actually engage in violence before Eraserhead's attack?"

"From the testimony I received from Shoji-san, he did not." Tsukauchi replied.

"Furthermore, in his debate with Thirteen and Shoji-san, Shigaraki expressed a degree of disgust with pointless violence as well as sadness that, in his opinion, mankind as a whole does not possess the ability to be better than this." Nezu added.

"Please, consider this," Toshinori took back the reins, grateful for Nezu's assistance, "the only threats he made were pursuant to his stated goal of killing me and the only times he engaged in violence or even threatened to do so were when he was attacked or, in the case of his attempted recovery of Kurogiri, when his ultimatum was rejected and his only other option would be to surrender."

"What I mean to say," here Toshinori pressed his hands onto the table, fingers splayed, "is that, when his actions are viewed through the lens provided to us by his speech and mannerisms, I cannot bring myself to believe that he is a typical Villain."

"Dear god…" Nezu said in a whisper that still carried throughout the conference room, "…it's a _game_. It's all a game to him. All of this was nothing more than him attempting to complete a specific objective. Even his battle banter with Eraserhead was hardly antagonistic. It was the sort of conversation you might hear between two people having a good-natured competition of some kind!"

"All Might," Midnight was subconsciously playing with one of the short chains dangling from the handcuffs she wore like bracelets, "you know I have a great deal of lu-* **ahem** *, respect for you, but what you're suggesting…it's the kind of crazy that not even _I_ could find attra-* **ahem** *, could comprehend. This guy's seriously messed up in the head if he sees the world as nothing more than a game, especially if it's not the _fun_ kind of game."

"Hombre's nuttier 'n a squirrel turd." Snipe agreed.

"While I think we can all agree that the mental state of this Villain, whatever it may be, is undesirable," Tsukauchi opined as he smacked his papers against the table to get everyone's attention, "I believe that there is one particular fact that is being overlooked here: this man managed to convince at least seventy-three other individuals to follow him. Most of them may have just been back-alley thugs, but it still leaves the question of why so many would join him willingly."

After a quick glance around to make sure he had everyone's undivided attention, the detective continued.

"I believe it is possible that, in today's society that has become saturated with Heroes, the small-time Villains who always get kicked around could be drawn in by the bizarre sort of purity and conviction that Shigaraki seems to possess. If he truly views the entire world as a game, then that would imply that he is convinced that there is a way to win it. There is, after all, no point in playing a game if there is absolutely zero chance of _some_ kind of victory, be it large or small, material or immaterial."

Toshinori was not an avid gamer by any means, nor was anyone else in the room, Tsukauchi having only done surface-level research into game theory since it seemed pertinent. There was one thing that all of them could agree on as they left the conference room to go about their daily duties:

This Villain was different.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku watched Cementoss leave the room as fourth period Modern Literature ended. Various students were starting to file out since it was now officially lunchtime, while some others were sticking around for a few moments to discuss the upcoming Sports Festival.

"Oh man! This has me so freaking _pumped_ you guys!" among these, to no one's surprise, was Kirishima.

"Hell yeah, man!" Sero agreed, "If we manage to show off our stuff here, then that's one _huge_ step towards going Pro!"

This declaration sparked additional replies and soon there was a general ruckus from that corner of the room.

"You know, it's kinda weird." Izuku observed.

"What is?" Iida inquired as he finished putting his things away.

"Well, in spite of everything we just went through, everyone's so excited."

"Surely you do not mean to suggest that you _aren't_ , Midoriya-san? This is our chance to add our names to the ranks of Heroes! Of course everyone is in high spirits!"

"Almost everyone."

"Ah." Iida adjusted his glasses to give himself a moment to think, "Do not worry, Midoriya-san. I am sure that all will be well once she gets some rest."

"Yeah!" Ashido chirped as she and Asui walked past, "I mean, you probably couldn't see it, but your jacket was _soaked_ when you came in. It's no wonder she'd be tired after that!"

"Ribbit. I'm sure part of everyone's good mood is that they got to see you safe and sound, Midoriya. I know _I_ was worried, at least."

"Ah, thank you, Asui-san." he was honestly touched by such a frank declaration.

"Call me 'Tsuyu-chan.'" then again, _everything_ Asui said was frank.

"Th-thank you, Tsuyu-san."

"Ribbit. Close enough."

"Hey! I was worried too! At least until Kiri texted me to let me know that everything was alright." Ashido protested, feigning offense.

"Oh, that reminds me, Ashido-san."

"Hmm?"

"Well, are you doing okay? I heard…that is, in the infirmary…" Izuku was suddenly not sure if it was his place to be asking this when Ashido's smile faltered for a moment before it came back and she gave him a "don't worry about it" wave.

"I'm…better. Yeah, I'm doing a lot better! I appreciate the concern, Midori. For real."

"Ribbit. Don't go being too nice to all the girls now, Midoriya. You need to give the rest of the boys a chance."

"Speak for yourself!" Hagakure chimed in as Izuku felt someone ruffle his hair from behind, "He can be as nice to _me_ as he wants!"

Izuku's face got redder and redder as his thought processes all ground to a halt.

"I, er, um,"

"What, are we all hitting on Midoriya?" Jiro appeared next to a snickering Kaminari, and proceeded to make finger guns at Izuku, "Hey good-lookin', you like smooth jazz?"

"Gah…kek…"

Ashido, with a mercy born of gratitude, did not join in. This did not, however, stop her from doubling over in laughter.

"Hahaha! Yaomomo! Get over here and blow him a kiss or something, this is priceless!"

"I refuse to help you torment the Class Vice-President."

"Yes, quite right!" Iida had recovered from his initial bemusement, "He is clearly unsettled by this! Your little joke is at an end."

"Aww, do I _have_ to? He's so cute!" Hagakure sounded as though she was pouting.

"Oh for fuck's sake." Kacchan to the rescue, apparently, "Oi, Half-n-Half! Get Invisibitch outta here!"

"Why is she suddenly _my_ responsibility?" a confused Todoroki looked up from his bento.

"Yeah, seriously!" Hagakure agreed as she took a few steps towards him to better demonstrate her support.

"Thank…you?" Todoroki seemed even more confused at her sudden vehemence. She then skipped over to him and a piece of rice that had been stuck to his face floated upwards and vanished.

"Yeah! Everyone knows that if anything, _I'm_ responsible for _him_! Todo would just be _lost_ without me! Of course, I'm invisible so sometimes he might still get lost anyway but that's not important!"

"…Are you real?" Todoroki stared at where her face would be incredulously, "Or are you just something my brain created because somewhere deep down I feel that I deserve to suffer?"

A piece of meat vanished from his bento next.

"Real enough to steal your food."

"I…should I be doing something about this?" Kaminari asked the group at large, apparently torn, "Does this fall under the banner of 'presidential duties?'"

"Well," Iida said thoughtfully, "is either of them breaking any rules?"

"I mean, they _would_ be if Todoroki suddenly decided to freeze her or something." Jiro supplied.

"Yeah, but you don't think he'd actually _do_ that, do you?" Izuku immediately latched on to the change of topic.

"Well," Ashido raised a finger, "he _did_ freeze everybody back in the Battle Trial because they pissed him off."

"Fair point. Hey, Todoroki! No freezing!" Kaminari barked at the flustered boy who was currently discovering that it was difficult to prevent your food being stolen when the culprit had invisible hands.

"I know that!" he made a swiping motion over his rice with his chopsticks but one of his vegetables vanished instead, "Don't you have your own food?!"

"Hmm?" Hagakure responded absentmindedly as her sleeve hovered back and forth to select her next target, "Yeah, of course I do. You want some?"

"If you're going to keep stealing _my_ food, then yes."

"Okie-dokie~ Lemme go get it I'll be right back." with that Hagakure bounced over to her desk, which was right in front of Kacchan's, and retrieved her lunch, humming happily.

"Did…" Ashido seemed to be having difficulty believing her eyes, "…did she just _con_ him into sharing lunches?"

"Ribbit. Looks that way."

Izuku had to admit that if that had been Hagakure's intention, which he was a bit skeptical of, then it had indeed been masterfully done. He was prevented from thinking about it further when a particular girl made her way into the classroom with a yawn.

"Uraraka-san! Are you feeling better?" he asked as he walked over to her.

"I mean…kind of? I'll still probably be going to bed _super_ early tonight, but I feel like I can make it through the rest of school at least. Lunch will probably help perk me up though!" she did a fist pump in an attempt to display her usual cheer and enthusiasm, but it was obvious to anyone watching that she was still not back to one-hundred percent.

"Well, in that case let's quit screwing around and go to the cafeteria. Shoji said he'd save our table." Kacchan said as he exited the classroom and was swiftly followed by Kirishima, Iida, Uraraka and Izuku.

"Wait, you were waiting for me?" a confused Uraraka asked.

"Duh."

"Well, um, why? You couldn't have known that I'd be back in time for lunch, right?"

"Ugh, fine. If you _must_ know, I figured that Recovery Girl would want you to get some food in your system, plus there's the fact that if you slept for too long during the day you'd wreck your sleep schedule and be right back where you started, so yeah."

"Wow, dude," an impressed Kirishima stated, "I keep forgetting that you're actually, you know, _smart_."

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?! You wanna fight?!"

"There, see, that's more like you."

While the pair of them bickered, Iida informed Uraraka of the upcoming Sports Festival, causing her to react in much the same way as the rest of the class had. Seeing this made Izuku suddenly realize that he had neglected to ask her a very basic question during their talks.

"Uraraka-san, why do you want to be a Hero?"

"Eh?" she seemed taken aback by the sudden question.

"Sorry to spring this on you so suddenly, I just realized that I'd never actually asked you and it seems kind of important, so…"

"Oh, no, it's fine! Let's see…I guess I'd have to say that it all boils down to money."

"You want to be a Hero for the money?" of all the possible answers he could have received, Izuku had decidedly _not_ expected that one.

"Well, ultimately, yeah." she was clearly embarrassed and started fiddling with her hair, "Sorry. I know it seems really base, especially when you consider how noble you and Iida's motivations are."

"I must disagree!" Iida interjected, gesticulating in his usual wild manner, "How could anyone fault you for seeking a more comfortable lifestyle?! Surely we all desire to maintain a certain standard of living, yes?"

"Y-yeah!" Izuku hurriedly agreed, "It was just a little unexpected, that's all! I didn't mean anything by it."

"No, I know you didn't, Deku-kun. You see…"

"Spit it out, Uraraka." Kacchan commanded.

"Yeah, you can talk to us!" Kirishima added.

"Well, it's just…I'm telling you all this so you can understand, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't spread it around, alright?" they all agreed immediately and after taking a steadying breath, she continued.

"My family runs a construction company, but business has been bad for a long time now. My mom and dad never made a big deal out of it, but I know they have a hard time making ends meet more often than not. I wouldn't be living in my own apartment right now if it wasn't an absolute necessity, even with U.A. helping out with the costs."

"Construction…say, if you got permission to use your Quirk, couldn't you help cut down costs, Uraraka-san?" Izuku suggested.

"Right?!" she whirled on him immediately, "That's exactly what I said to my dad way back when, but he shot me down. He said…" she gripped her skirt in her hands as a sad smile made its way onto her face, "He said that it was really sweet of me, but that he and my mom would be even happier if I could make my _own_ dreams come true instead of worrying about them. They'd be pleased with just a family vacation to Hawaii or something once I make it big."

"So, I'm gonna be a Hero." Uraraka's expression became determined, "I'll make that money and I'll use it to help my mom and dad have easier lives whether they want it or not!"

Honestly, Izuku felt a little childish.

 _Unlike me, who just idolizes Heroes and wants to be like them, she's taking practicality into consideration as well. Being a Hero is a job too, after all. Even they have bills to pay and mouths to feed at the end of the day._

Iida was giving Uraraka a standing ovation while Kirishima wiped his eyes while talking about how manly her dedication to her family was. Even Kacchan was looking at her with a newfound respect when a massive tan blur with iconic blonde hair and a booming laugh zoomed around the corner and made them all jump about a foot into the air.

"Ah-HA! Midoriya, my boy! I have found you!"

Was it weird that he _still_ hadn't gotten used to seeing All Might in a suit?

"Gah! Sensei! Did you need me for something?"

"I was wondering…" All Might lifted a neatly-wrapped bento, "…if you wanted to eat lunch with me?"

"Pfft! Just like a schoolgirl!" Uraraka couldn't seem to decide whether to commit herself to laughter or cuteness overload and the middle ground she had settled on looked slightly uncomfortable in Izuku's opinion.

"I- sure! That is-" Izuku looked to his friends for confirmation.

"What are you asking for permission for? Get outta here." Kacchan waved him away and Kirishima gave him the thumbs-up.

"Right. Talk to you guys later!"

With that, Izuku followed All Might to the teacher's lounge.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"I wonder what All Might-sensei wants with Deku-kun?"

Tenya Iida considered Uraraka's question as they took their place in the lunch line, which was rather short by this point by virtue of their later-than-usual arrival.

"Perhaps he wishes to commend him for his actions back at USJ? I was not there at the time, but from my understanding Midoriya-san was instrumental in holding the Villains back long enough for All Might and myself to arrive, as well as in rescuing Aizawa-sensei." Uraraka nodded her agreement, and Tenya remembered something else, "Plus, just like Asui-san mentioned back on the bus, their Quirks have some similar aspects. Given all of this, I would not be surprised if All Might has taken a liking to him."

"Hey, yeah! Plus, Deku-kun really idolizes him, so if that's the case then he'd be over the moon about it!" Uraraka smiled at the thought.

"Dude, that'd be awesome!" Kirishima exclaimed once they had all sat down at their table, thanked Shoji for saving their seats and relayed their theory, "I can only imagine if I'd had that kind of chance with Crimson Riot back in the day…'course I wasn't _alive_ then, but still."

"Crimson Riot, huh? Talk about old-school." Bakugo said between bites, "Is that why you want to be a Hero then, since that seems to be the topic of the day? To be like him?" this caused Kirishima to adopt a thoughtful expression.

"Well, yes and no. I'd say that it's less about trying to follow after him and more about trying to follow after his _ideals_ , you know? Like, what he _represented_ as both a man and a Hero. I think that if I can achieve what Crimson Riot was always striving for, even just a little, then I could hold my head high and know that I'd really become a man among Heroes, just like him. Does that make sense?"

"I believe it makes perfect sense, Kirishima-san." Tenya supplied, "You can absolutely strive to emulate a person without attempting to become a copy of them." Kirishima nodded happily, obviously pleased that he had managed to get his point across.

"Say, what about you, Bakugo?" he asked, "I know that Midoriya wants to be like All Might and Uraraka mentioned that Iida wants to be like someone too…"

"My brother, Ingenium." Tenya filled in.

"Dude, for real? That's way cool. Yeah, so Midoriya wants to be like All Might, Iida wants to be like his big bro and Uraraka wants to make bank and help out her folks. That just leaves you and Shoji and I wanna save him for last since I was already gonna grill him about that _news story_ , you sly bastard!"

Shoji had the grace to look mildly abashed at the good-natured ribbing.

"Well," Bakugo began, "I look up to All Might like Deku does, but not for the same reasons. See, Deku wants to be the kind of Hero who can rescue anyone and that everyone looks up to. As for me, I want to be the kind of Hero who never loses and can defeat any Villain single-handedly! I want to stand at the top as the indisputable Number One Hero so that everyone can know that I'm the best and that if they feel like committing evil acts, I'll be there to blow their faces off."

"Wow, Bakugo-san!" Uraraka commented, "Those are some seriously high ambitions, but at the same time I think it'd be weird for you to say anything else. So…as expected, I guess?"

Tenya nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. What of you, Shoji-san? What fuels your desire for this noble profession?"

Tenya noticed that, by virtue of his ability to have multiple duplicated mouths at once, Shoji was able to eat and communicate simultaneously. Tenya found himself unable to decide whether this counted as speaking with one's mouth full and could therefore be construed as rude, so he let it go for the sake of his own sanity.

 _That is one skill at which I am becoming disturbingly proficient as of late._

"I suppose that you could compare my motivations most closely to those of Uraraka-san in that I do not seek to emulate any particular Hero, though of course there are a great many that I admire. Nor, however, do I seek material gain, though I do recognize the necessity of money for maintaining my everyday life. I am something of a minimalist, you see."

"So, if there's nothing you want, does that mean you want to become a Hero for no reason?" Kirishima asked, obviously confused. Shoji shook his elongated head.

"I said that I do not desire anything material, not that I do not desire anything at all. Indeed, I do have an overriding desire that drove me to become who I am today: the desire to be useful in whatever way I can. I have always been strong of body and my Quirk is highly useful for Heroic activities, though it is not my intention to boast. Therefore, the course of action that would allow me to be of use to the greatest number of people while not wasting my natural abilities reasonably seemed to be becoming a Hero."

"And here you are, huh?" Bakugo concluded.

"And here I am." Shoji concurred.

"…Does anyone else feel like we're all being super-greedy compared to Shoji?" Kirishima inquired.

"Well, I kind of already felt that way _before_ I heard his story, so…" Uraraka trailed off.

"I admit that hearing of this particular brand of selflessness does put some things into perspective." Tenya agreed.

"Hey, don't knock greed!" Bakugo barked, much to everyone's surprise, "People give greed a bad name because it's usually used in a negative context. Sure, greed may not necessarily be good, but it's not so bad either. Having something you want means that you can work up the motivation to do whatever it takes to get that something. A lot of people think that greed is just for material things like money and power, but _everyone_ wants something they don't have."

Tenya was impressed in spite of himself.

"Bakugo-san, are you a philosopher now?"

"That's not philosophy, it's common fucking sense! Greed wouldn't have existed for this long if it didn't have some kind of use! Same thing for every other emotion that we still have after millions of years of evolution. Sadness, anger, hatred, envy, pride, lust and all of the other classically negative emotions have a time and place where they can be used for something. If anyone ever just took a minute to _think about shit_ , I'm sure they'd all come to the same conclusion."

"You know," Kirishima raised a finger after everyone had taken a solid minute to digest what Bakugo had said, "I've thought this for a while now, but you get _weird_ when Midoriya's not around, don't you?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEIRD YOU SPIKE-HEADED BASTARD?!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Toshinori reached across the coffee table and set a steaming cup of tea in front of his protégé while the boy digested what he had just told him.

"So you really are starting to lose your powers, All Might?"

Toshinori nodded.

"Yes. When we met, you may recall that I said I could work as a Hero for roughly three hours a day. As of my most recent estimate, I am down to something more like two hours and fifteen minutes. I truly pushed myself to the brink in my fight with Nomu and I believe that it cost me around thirty minutes of transformation time."

"So you mean, even before then…?" Midoriya's expression was so grim that Toshinori nearly regretted extending his invitation.

But even so, there were things that needed to be said and the sooner they were said, the better.

"My boy, my torch's flame began weakening from the very moment I passed it along to you, just as we both knew it would. All this means is that the amount of time until you must take your place as my successor has been lessened somewhat; the fact itself has not changed. I am simply grateful to still have as much time remaining as I do. Had whatever plan those Villains devised been implemented, things could very well have ended up being much worse."

"Considering how close we came and how much everyone went through regardless, it's almost hard to imagine."

Okay, something was well and truly wrong here. The rest could wait for a moment.

"Midoriya, my boy, what is it that troubles you?"

"What do you mean, All Might?"

"Do not play * **blarf** * coy with me. I know that some* **hack** *thing is bothering you." Toshinori said through a bout of bloody coughs, "Out with it."

"Is it that obvious?" a nod was his only response.

"Alright. In that case, I have a question that I need to ask you, All Might."

"Ask away, my boy, ask away."

"How do you do it? How do you deal with the parts of being a Hero that nobody talks about? That nobody _thinks_ about? How do you deal with it when a near-death experience has you questioning yourself? How do you deal with it when people are hurting, but it's not on the outside? When they're losing sleep because of the trauma they've endured? What are you supposed to do when your friend is _crying into your shoulder because she almost had you die in her arms_?"

At that moment Toshinori Yagi wanted nothing more than to hug his student. He very nearly did just that, only managing to stop himself when he was already halfway off of the couch.

He forced himself to sit back down and regard Midoriya with clasped hands and a serious expression. This was not the type of question that could be waved off with a hug or some placating words. This was a very real and _very_ prominent issue that deserved to be addressed properly.

"I…I had heard, of course, but I didn't…" Toshinori found himself struggling to put sentences together, "I had wanted to visit you when you were in the infirmary, my boy. You have my utmost apologies that I did not. I was concerned that the mere minutes I had remaining to me would not allow for a clean getaway when I discovered that most of your class had accompanied you. Before I address your question properly, allow me to apologize. I should have come regardless."

"You don't have to apologize to me, All Might. You needed to conceal your secret identity. I understand that."

"I may have made the correct decision, my boy, but it does not necessarily mean that I made the _right_ one. I still feel as though I failed you somehow as my protégé."

"D-don't be ridiculous!" Midoriya rubbed aggressively at his eyes with his sleeve.

"There, I am afraid we must agree to disagree. Nevertheless, you have, knowingly or not, touched upon the part of being a Hero that many consider to be the most difficult to the point that many have changed careers over it. I am not referring to the near-death experiences, for over time you will grow accustomed to them, though it is always at least a little jarring in hindsight. Lord knows that I've had more than my fair share over the years."

Toshinori took a sip of his tea and steeled himself for what he would say next.

"It may seem callous of me to say this, my boy, but when it all gets to be too much, it is easy to start thinking of civilians, bystanders and even Villains as a statistic. After all, what do you truly know about them other than the fact that it is your job to protect them, that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and that they are threatening the first two and must be stopped respectively?" here, his voice dropped slightly and he clasped his hands together all the more tightly.

"But those whom you fight alongside time and again? Those who know you, the _real_ you, better than anyone? My boy, the day that you can remain unhurt by that is the day that you will have truly lost the last of your humanity. Most Heroes come to instinctively understand this over time and, in order to prevent the worst from happening, take one of two courses of action. The first is to cut all ties with friends and family and to devote yourself in your entirety to a life of Heroism. Your identity as a Hero becomes your _only_ identity and you give it your all until the day you either retire or die in the line of duty."

"What's the second choice?" Midoriya prompted.

"Ah, the second choice is infinitely more difficult than the first. Where the first choice involves minimizing the possibility of suffering and loss by cutting ties with those who could be viewed as your weaknesses, the second involves embracing them all the tighter. You devote your life as a Hero to not only protecting the public, but those whom you hold most dear as well. You come to love and cherish them more fiercely than ever, for they are your rays of light on the darkest of days. They are the home that you can return to and your reminder, your one, _final_ reminder that you can still be loved as a person even when your hands are stained with the blood of those that you could not save along with that of those whose demise was of your own design."

"You can see the risk involved with the second path, can't you, my boy?"

"Yes." Midoriya nodded, "When you devote your all to those you love, it means that if something were to happen to them in spite of all you'd done…"

"It could destroy you." Toshinori finished for him.

"All Might, which path did _you_ take?" he sounded almost fearful and Toshinori had the strange impression that, somehow, some way, the boy knew.

"I experienced loss, _true_ loss, only once. It was…it was too much. I knew that I wouldn't have the strength to carry on if such a thing were to happen to me again, so I took the first path. My injury only sealed the deal later on. But you know something, my boy?" this time Toshinori did rise from the couch and walk over to Midoriya where he knelt in front of the boy sitting on his stool and placed both hands on his shoulders.

"Not a single day has gone by where I haven't regretted that decision. You can do all the good in the world and be hailed as the Number One Hero, but if there is no one waiting for you at the end of the day, if you have no reason to ever doff the costume for just a moment and truly _be yourself_ , then when the dust settles and you take a moment to truly look at what you have become, you will realize that it all rings hollow. Nothing but fake muscles and insincerity until all that remains is for you to continue perpetuating the same cycle for yourself because, at that point, what else can you do?"

"So, when your friends need to talk, listen. When they need help, be there. And when they need a shoulder to cry on, open your arms and ask questions later. It's okay to feel fear, it's okay to hurt and it's okay to cry, but never doubt for a single moment that it is the people around you that make your life worth living. So do all that you can to preserve both their happiness and your own. If you can do that, then one day you may find your answer…"

Toshinori pulled the now-crying boy to him and wrapped him in his arms.

"…just as I have done."

He felt the arms of his student, his protégé, his successor, his torchbearer wrap around his torso as the boy let out all that which he had been holding in, maybe without knowing it.

 _To you, my boy, I can only say "thank you." You have saved me in ways that I pray you never have to realize._

* * *

 **Not really much to say this time apart from thank you for the continued support in the form of both Follows/Favs and Reviews. I appreciate each and every one.**

 **I still have way more fun writing Shigaraki than I should. That part of the chapter practically wrote itself.**

 **Next time we'll get to the first weekend, where I do actually have something planned!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	20. Chapter 20: No Pressure

**Well, we've hit ourselves another milestone! Twenty chapters and we've only just gotten started! Let's keep this party going!**

 **ALSO, just before I'm posting this I took a look and overnight we hit the 800 Follows mark. WOOHOO!**

 **Review time:**

 **Unknown4804: He's a bit of both here, but the D &D stuff certainly seems to be the lion's share of it. It just works so well for him! I'm glad you like it.**

 **Renlu: First off, sorry that I made you cry. Unless that's a good thing, in which case thank you.**

 **In retrospect, it really was a pretty eventful chapter, wasn't it? This one will be a bit more focused. Don't worry about traitor stuff, since I don't plan on having a traitor. I'm of the same opinion that you are regarding that, though some of the theories are interesting.**

 **I really wanted to sit down and have a real moment with Dad Might since we haven't had much of that recently. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy this chapter too!**

 **LawKaynn: 1) Indeed. 2) You got it. 3) I hope you enjoy!**

 **NPGamer11: Thank you for this incredibly high praise. The only real advice I can give is to write the kind of thing that you would want to read. That way you have fun doing it and that's something that people will be sure to pick up on!**

 **the_narr_master: You know, I never thought to compare Shoji to Shirou but now that I think about it it makes a lot of sense. Just sans the trauma. I'm also glad you like Shigaraki. I really do have a lot of fun with him.**

 **Well you see, the thing about your Eri suggestion is *SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS*. Your JoJo reference is acknowledged. I never knew that about the seven deadly sins, but I agree that they are seven very powerful motivators that can drive people to extremes. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Dark White Fang: I'm glad that you're enjoying it! I can totally see Shoji as a monk and the six arms only makes the image that much more perfect.**

 **MalumAnima: Thank you! I always feel validated when someone likes my characterization since that's the thing I try and put the most attention into. FMA is also one of my all-time favorite anime right after Yu Yu Hakusho, so props for getting the reference! I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **uchihaNaruto247: Thank you. I do try to keep things grounded in realism to make them feel more relatable and impactful.**

 **dspendragon125: I am glad that I was able to impact you so. I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **bhennen: I'm glad you are enjoying it! I do try and keep things at least semi-realistic and if you squint there is a little hint as to what might be coming next for Izuku in this chapter.**

 **Markus-Antonius: Thank you!**

 **Ezylryb: Thank you! I certainly intend to keep going. I think you will enjoy this chapter very much.**

 **WiseFoolofDeath: Thank you! I will certainly be continuing the story and I hope that you continue to enjoy it!**

 **bigdogneversleeps: I do love it. There's nothing more satisfying then just typing like a madman and realizing that you just spewed out a couple thousand words like it was nothing. I did have a bit of fun with Snipe. I wanted to just make him as incredibly Western as possible. It makes me laugh especially since he's such a serious-looking character.**

 **BloodySS2God: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one as well.**

 **The 0bservanc3: I haven't put too much thought into the hand situation, but I don't see why not. We at least don't have anything to contradict it. Your idea about Kurogiri also makes a great deal of sense. I will certainly keep the references coming with Shigaraki. As for how I know it...well, I'm a gamer. I've played D &D for several years including DM'ing some stuff, so I learned it over time.**

 **As for taking twenty, there's a rule in D &D where if you spend a certain amount of time on a skill check then you can treat it as if you rolled a natural twenty, causing the check to be as high as possible. You can also take ten in certain situations where nothing is actively distracting or opposing you, which is sometimes referred to as your "passive" level with that skill. This is most commonly done with Perception/Spot and Insight/Sense Motive to just sort of casually notice that something is up.**

 **In the manga at least, Snipe does talk like a cowboy, at least in the fan translation that I am using for reference. I like it so I decided to use it. With how detailed your reviews are, I don't mind the occasional "it's great." You get a pass. XD I also appreciate your appreciating what I did here.**

 **I dunno, AM I?! I absolutely agree with the image of Mezo as a monk. I'm also glad that you recognized the Dad Might scene for what it was supposed to be and enjoyed the message. I hope you enjoy this one too!**

 **kresnamurti17: Welcome aboard and much thanks for the review injection! I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **TheOneWhoWillSurvive: Thank you very much! I try very hard to keep things feeling realistic and relatable and am glad to know that I am succeeding. I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Impressed Dude: Well I am very pleased to be the exception! I had a lot of fun writing that scene and that chapter as a whole and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you as well for this incredibly high praise. I very much appreciate it and hope you will continue to enjoy!**

 **mookstafar: Thank you! It's gratifying to know that my story is a page-turner for the newcomers. I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Manny Siliezar: I too occasionally get paid to read fanfiction XD Thank you for the praise! The friend group will most certainly get more screentime. You are correct in deducing that I have a lot of fun writing Todoroki and Hagakure, so definitely expect to see more of them as well. In what capacity? You'll have to wait and see :P**

 **Mezo was a come-from-behind character for me. I didn't expect to use him as much as I've ended up doing, but he's really grown on me. As for Mineta, he is not dead and we will see what became of him soon enough. I do indeed intend to change things up a bit with the Sports Festival and people have given me some good ideas on how to go about that. I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

 **Tism-schism: I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying it! Full-Cowl will be significantly different from canon but saying exactly how would spoil the surprise. I do not at this point have an ending point in mind for this story, though using the manga as a reference we're still only at about chapter 22 or so. I have no doubt that this thing will end up being an absolute monster when all is said and done though.**

 **Twain apprentice: Your comparison of my writing to the actual author's is very flattering and I thank you for it. Your review actually reminded me that it's been a few weeks since I've looked at the more recent chapters of the manga so I went and read those real quick and...damn. What a good time to be writing this fic. That piece of gear that our Hero Course hopeful has is really cool. In all honesty the limitations revealed by Horikoshi make a TON of sense to me and I might end up just keeping his Quirk as-is.**

 **As for the suggestion of limiting the shout-outs to just those to whom I have a detailed reply to make...that could work. I do like taking the time to thank each of my reviewers though and I don't use word count as a metric of success. I prefer to use Reviews/Follows/Favorites. I feel like they took the time to review so the least I can do is take the time to acknowledge them, but I also don't want to have to PM everyone. I'll have to ask for everyone else's opinion in the post-chapter A/N to get a better feel for popular opinion.**

 **JehovahReigns: Thank you! It's an idea that I've heard several times, so I couldn't say exactly where it came from other than it just makes sense. I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, it's been a few chapters since someone got punched. Let's start with that.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty: No Pressure

Katsuki Bakugo was irritated. This was not at all unusual; he was often irritated and the cause of his irritation was rarely the same twice in a row; there was just _so damn much_ to be irritated about! Stupidity, ignorance, idiocy, wishy-washyness, denial, spite, outright evil and so much more.

And that was just the list of general topics, to say nothing of the specific incidents and individuals of whom the number of potential rage-inducing combinations may as well have been infinite.

This particular incident was unusual in one particular sense, though: Katsuki was not irritated at any one person in particular, nor was he irritated with any specific action or event.

He was just _irritated_ and he knew that he _shouldn't_ be.

After all, he along with the rest of Class 1-A had just learned that at least one session of Hero Training each week would involve no-Quirk sparring which was designed to sharpen their basic combat skills and develop their overall battle-awareness.

Being given the ticket to an all-the-ass-you-can-kick buffet was essentially Katsuki's _definition_ of a good time, give or take one or two minor details. The first of these was that nobody was allowed to use their Quirks (it was kind of in the title) and the second was that they were under strict orders to try and avoid serious injury, since self-control was as important to Heroes as combat ability, if not _more_ so.

"After all," All Might finished his explanation of the exercise, cape billowing as it always did when he was pontificating regardless of whether or not there was any wind present, "a Hero can just as easily cause harm as they can protect if they are not conscious of their Quirks as well as their circumstances. I believe that Thirteen said something similar to you all at USJ?" the students all nodded in response, with a few making verbal affirmations as well. Clearly satisfied, All Might spread his arms and declared, "Then let's get this show on the road! Everyone pair off in one of the squares on the floor and go a round or two. The main purpose of our first exercise will be to determine everyone's relative skill level in hand-to-hand combat, so expect to change partners often and don't worry if you have a hard time in the beginning; I shall use what we learn today to refine our lesson plan for next time. In the meantime, Plus Ultra!"

"Excuse me, Sensei!" Iida's voice caused several students to stop in their tracks as they were in the process of pairing up, "We seem to have an odd number of participants. How do you wish to proceed given this? Shall one of the pairs accept the third member, or will they simply rotate in and out?"

Odd number? That was weird. They hadn't had that kind of problem with the Battle Trial, had they? Katsuki thought back to a few days ago and concluded that he did not remember such an issue. Was someone missing? Or maybe it was because Deku still wasn't allowed to do this kind of stuff because of his injuries? Yeah, that made sense. Katsuki remembered him saying something about that. Mystery solved. Good, that had been starting to annoy him.

"Ah, don't worry, Iida-san," Deku responded, "I'm still not completely healed yet, so I'll be sitting this one out. You don't need to worry about there being an odd man out this time."

All Might nodded and gave Iida the thumbs-up to show his approval, "Nice catch, Iida my boy! Hopefully we will have everyone next time, but I shall make sure to come up with a contingency plan in the event that we do not! Everything will be All Might."

Huh? So Deku wasn't the one missing? That was weird. Katsuki took a quick mental inventory of his classmates and couldn't figure out who was missing. It seemed like everyone was there, but that obviously wasn't the case because there must have been twenty students in 1-A at one point or the Battle Trial wouldn't have worked out like it did.

As Katsuki took his place across from his first opponent (Kirishima, to absolutely no one's surprise) and they began to circle each other, he decided that he really, really wanted to know what he was missing.

"Oi, Kirishima?" Katsuki threw a couple of quick jabs to keep his opponent at a distance until he was ready.

"What's up?" Kirishima swayed back to avoid the jabs before quickly reversing his momentum and coming back with a step-in left uppercut.

"Who the fuck's missing?" the uppercut was so ridiculously telegraphed that Katsuki could have dodged it in his sleep, so he took the opportunity to counter with a sharp right hook that caused his opponent to stagger away.

 _Huh. That should've knocked him down. Must've held back too much. Can't forget this is Kirishima I'm dealing with here; durability is kinda his thing._

"What're you talking about, my man?" Kirishima shook his head and regained his stance, eyes as alive as ever. It did not appear as though he had taken any real damage in spite of the counter.

 _That settles it. I'm putting my weight into the next one._

"I mean there's a student missing and I can't figure out who it is." Katsuki took the offensive this time, steering Kirishima towards a corner with a series of jabs and the occasional low kick to keep him guessing. Ordinarily his style would have been to go straight for the finish, but he was unsure if that would work on a tough opponent like the Hardening Quirk user. Besides, he had to at least get his question answered first.

"Oh!" his opponent seemed to have caught on to what he was talking about as well as his plan because he was suddenly starting to make a conscious effort to hold his ground, responding with punches of his own that were either blocked or dodged, "That'd be Mineta."

"Who?" he purposefully whiffed a high hook and then followed up with a knee to the face when Kirishima ducked to avoid it, causing him to land on his ass just outside of the ring.

"Ring Out, Kirishima, my boy! Take your starting positions and then begin anew!" All Might shouted from off to the side, "And remember, no Quirk usage!"

The idea of the rings was a simple one: there would be times when you would be forced to fight in enclosed spaces or while surrounded by onlookers or bystanders. It was important to be able to keep a fight contained to avoid unnecessary damage when at all possible.

Kirishima grinned sheepishly, having activated Hardening at the last possible moment out of reflex before getting kneed in the face.

"Could've busted my nose there, Bakubro."

"Was pretty sure I wouldn't." Katsuki responded as he hauled Kirishima to his feet by the hand and returned to the center of the ring, "Besides, I don't think a busted nose would qualify as a serious injury unless it got caved in or something. Now who the hell were you talking about?"

"Dude, Mineta? You know Mineta. Little purple dude with grapes on his head? Got a little bit too handsy with Yaomomo at the Battle Trial?" Kirishima obviously knew who he was talking about but Katsuki was honestly drawing a blank. He just shrugged and took up his fighting stance again.

"I'll take your word for it, I guess. Now let's get back to it. Try and last a bit longer this time, yeah?" without waiting for a response, Katsuki charged his opponent with his right arm cocked back, ready to slam a palm strike into Kirishima's face if he didn't react quickly enough.

Kirishima had apparently gotten wise to the fact that Katsuki was faster than him in addition to being more skilled, as he had adopted a tight defensive posture and took the blow with his forearms, having to brace himself on his back leg to avoid being knocked over. He had clearly not expected this kind of physical force from Katsuki if his wide eyes were any indication. Katsuki capitalized on this moment by grabbing onto one of the arms that had blocked his palm strike and taking Kirishima's back with a quick pivot, allowing him to drive a sharp left jab into his opponent's kidney.

"JESUS FUCK!" Kirishima dropped like a sack of bricks and rolled back and forth a couple of times.

"Relax," Katsuki reassured him, "I didn't follow through, so you won't be pissing blood or anything like that. Probably still hurts like a bitch though."

"Agh! Yeah, that's fair to say." Kirishima's voice was a bit strained as he took Katsuki's hand and was helped to his feet. By unspoken agreement they took a breather to allow him time to recover, "How are you so good at this?"

"Me and Deku have been doing no-Quirk sparring for years now," Katsuki informed him, "we both always knew we wanted to be Heroes, but with Quirks like ours we couldn't exactly go too nuts practicing them. In the end we just decided to spar with each other. We used footage of Heroes as inspiration to try out different styles. Nothing too fancy but it gets the job done. Good time-killer too."

"Wait," Kirishima held up a hand, "are you saying that Midoriya's as good as you are?" Katsuki shook his head.

"Not quite. He can put up a decent fight, which you probably saw at the Battle Trial, but he's never been as aggressive of a fighter as me and, honestly, he doesn't have the right instincts for it. I usually just end up overwhelming him."

"I can see how." Kirishima massaged his side, "Has he ever beaten you?"

"A few times, yeah." Katsuki shrugged, "It's no secret that he's smart; tactics have always been his strong suit. Every now and then he comes up with a plan that and catches me off-guard. All it really takes is one good hit, after all."

What Katsuki had neglected to mention was that there had been more than a few close calls over the years. Deku rarely came up with bad ideas; he was simply not always able to put his own plans into motion well enough to use them against someone like Katsuki who could react at a moment's notice.

"You ever punched him in the kidneys?"

"Liver once. He threw up. His mom got _really_ mad at me."

"All right! Everyone take a moment to exchange tips and find a new partner!" All Might's voice boomed from the sidelines.

"Well, since you kicked my ass so badly, any advice?" Kirishima asked with a sharp-toothed grin.

"Yeah, actually," Katsuki replied, "you leave yourself really open, probably because you're so used to your Quirk soaking up the hits for you. It's not a bad way to fight, given what your Quirk is, but if you're gonna be that way you really need to work on the accuracy and speed of your attacks. If you're dead-set on exchanging hits with your opponent, then you'd better make damned sure that your counterattacks actually _land_ , otherwise you're nothing but a punching bag."

"Yeah, Ojiro showed me that at the Battle Trial." Kirishima nodded before perking up, "Hey! That gives me an idea! You should go spar with Ojiro! I bet _he'd_ give you a run for your money!"

"Tailman, huh?" Katsuki looked over to where Ojiro was speaking to Sato, looking as though he were giving him a few pointers, "I guess his Hero Costume _is_ a gi, so he must be at least a little good."

"Oh, trust me," Kirishima's grin widened, "he's more than just 'good.' He broke through my Hardening with nothing but his bare hands and I could barely touch the guy. He may have looked beaten up after our match, but most of that he did to himself; I just got off a lucky punch."

Katsuki had to admit, this was starting to sound interesting. At that moment, Ojiro caught his eye. Something of his thoughts must have shown on Katsuki's face because Ojiro smirked and gave him a nod of acknowledgement before gesturing to the ring he was standing in.

Well, he couldn't very well turn down an invitation like _that_ , could he?

"I saw a little bit of your match with Kirishima-san," Ojiro admitted when Katsuki had drawn closer, "have you had martial arts training?"

Katsuki shook his head, "Not unless you count me and Deku beating the crap out of each other a few hundred times martial arts training."

Ojiro nodded, "I understand. So, you have no formal training, but quite a bit of experience nonetheless. Couple that with your natural battle instincts and I believe we have much we can learn from each other." he touched a fist to his open palm and bowed to Katsuki, "I humbly request your cooperation, Bakugo-san."

Katsuki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If this guy was the real deal, then he could put up with a little bit of traditional BS.

"Yeah. Let's get going." he raised his guard and spread his feet slightly. He would take this seriously from the start; his fight with Kirishima had served well enough as a warm-up and if Tailman couldn't take the heat…

…well, that would be _his_ problem.

Katsuki shot forwards, intending to either strike his opponent's head or grab his guard as he had done with Kirishima. Apparently seeing what he intended, Ojiro ducked slightly and guided his arm up and away before sending his right fist shooting towards Katsuki's gut. Katsuki diverted the blow with his left arm with a sharp block, leaving both of them with their bodies exposed. Katsuki immediately sent his foot shooting upwards, attempting to land a snap kick on Ojiro's chin and take him out of the fight.

Ojiro could not block or evade in time, so he simply allowed himself to fall backwards before the kick could connect, rolling along the ground a couple of times before flipping to his feet.

"I must admit, your reflexes are astonishing, Bakugo-san. I have seldom fought anyone with your reaction time." then he _moved_.

"I think I might be able to step up my game against you." his fist had buried itself in Katsuki's gut. Only his last-second step backwards had prevented it from knocking the wind out of him completely.

"HAH!" Katsuki let fly with an angular uppercut that he vaguely remembered was called a "smash" oddly enough. Ojiro knew better than to try and block such an attack outright and instead redirected it while sidestepping, forcing Katsuki to overextend himself. He then gripped Katsuki's wrist and pivoted while planting his other hand on the Explosion user's shoulder joint and using his sudden leverage to slam him into the ground.

"I have you now, Bakugo-san." Ojiro stated calmly, "You cannot escape my hold without having your shoulder dislocated and I would rather not resort to such a thing during training." Katsuki sighed and used his free hand to tap out. Ojiro helped him to his feet.

"Would you agree to another match? I am very much enjoying not having to hold back for the sake of my partner's safety."

"What, big guy didn't do it for you?" Katsuki grinned.

"Sato-san's strength is remarkable, but his speed and technique leave something to be desired." Ojiro remarked as he returned to his stance across from Katsuki.

This time Katsuki did not rush straight in. Instead he circled his opponent, looking for an opening.

"Oh, you need not worry about my tail," Ojiro assured him, "I have decided that, since my tail is my Quirk, that I will not use it for this exercise." his response was Katsuki charging at him in a zig-zag pattern, keeping himself low to the ground.

Ojiro aimed a roundhouse kick at Katsuki's head which was intercepted by a well-placed shoulder block. Before Ojiro could retract his leg, Katsuki trapped it in the crook of his elbow and leapt into the air, dragging the off-balance Ojiro with him.

There were a few things that Katsuki could have done from such a position. He could have tried to break Ojiro's leg, kicked him in the balls, grabbed his face and slammed his head into the ground or what have you. Unfortunately, none of these moves were suitable for a practice session, so Katsuki had to content himself with shoulder-checking his opponent into the ground when they landed. What he had _not_ expected was for Ojiro to slam his knee into Katsuki's ribs shortly after their landing and remove his leg from his hold with a sharp jerk while he was distracted. He then reversed their positions so that he was mounting Katsuki and punched him once across the face to make sure he got the message.

Said message being, "Nice try."

Katsuki spat a small amount of blood onto the ground from where the inside of his cheek had been cut by his teeth and looked up at Ojiro with a small frown.

"Was that really necessary?"

"I could keep going if you would prefer? I am in an ideal ground-and-pound position."

"No, I'm good."

"You honestly almost had me there, but your finish was sloppy." Ojiro helped Katsuki to his feet.

"I couldn't think what to do." Katsuki honestly replied, "All I had were cheap shots or debilitating ones."

"A valid concern. One which I certainly appreciate you acting upon." Ojiro looked thoughtful for a moment, "I suppose you could have gone for a leg lock? The landing would have been a little rough, but it would most likely have been effective."

"Honestly I don't know much about wrestling." Katsuki shrugged, "In a real fight when would I ever use it? When I get ahold of someone like that my first move would always be to just use Explosion to do some damage."

Ojiro shrugged in return, "Fair enough. I suppose in that regard I am at something of an advantage, since for me this _is_ my primary fighting style apart from the fact that I am not using my tail."

Apparently Deku's Quirk Theory senses were tingling because he walked over and started talking about how interesting it was that Quirks could change someone's fighting style to such an extent. Ojiro did not seem to mind the interruption and eagerly expounded on the topic of martial arts at Deku's request while the latter wrote in his ever-present notebook. Seriously, where had he been hiding that thing? They were only wearing their gym clothes!

It was then that Katsuki realized what had been bothering him: Deku had seemed really off all day. At first it had been easy enough to attribute this to whatever Uraraka's problem was, but when lunch had been over and Deku still looked like something was bothering him, Katsuki started to wonder if there was something else going on.

He hadn't even had the heart to chew Deku out for forgetting to tell him that he was leaving early that morning. He had only found out when he had gone looking for him because he was running late, knocked on his door and been told as much by Inko.

Then he had shown up late to class (which _never_ happened) with his jacket rumpled and a big, damp blotch on his shoulder. It hadn't been hard for Katsuki to put two and two together at that point.

He had hoped that a day of classes and excitement would be enough to get Deku out of his funk, but when All Might called for the pairs to change again and his friend resumed his place on the sidelines, Katsuki saw his expression darken again.

That wasn't right. That wasn't how Deku was supposed to be. He was supposed to be the mumbling nerd who fanboyed over anything and everything Hero or Quirk-related. Having him stare at the group in front of him with a thousand-yard stare like he was looking at something that nobody else could see just…wasn't right.

The rest of the exercise went well enough. Katsuki had the opportunity to spar with Shoji, who gave him some serious trouble with his six arms, Iida, who was surprisingly skilled with kicks and reasonably fast even without his Quirk, though Katsuki won in the end, and Kaminari, who had attempted to perform an honest-to-god shoryuken on him. He had sidestepped and sent him flying out of the ring with a double palm strike while he was still airborne.

One particular highlight had been Todoroki sparring with Ojiro. Apparently, the Half-and-Half kid had received training in martial arts as part of his upbringing and had given Ojiro a good fight, though he still had no chance in the end. Tailman just dominated because he was in his element the whole time.

Throughout all of this, Katsuki had been working on a plan for snapping Deku out of his funk. He had a couple of ideas but had been unsuccessful in developing any of them past the "what-if" phase.

"Hey, All Might-sensei is about to tell everyone how they did!" Kirishima interrupted his train of thought, "Though I gotta say, this was seriously useful! How would you like to maybe get together this weekend and spar some more? I wanna be better for next time!"

"Hmm? Yeah, sure." Katsuki replied without much thought. It would at least make for a good time-killer and Deku would probably be happy to have other people to-

Wait a minute.

Wait. A. Minute.

That was a _good_ idea.

"Kirishima I think you just gave me an idea."

"You aren't gonna punch me in the kidney again are you?"

"Not right now."

This could seriously work, but he would need time to put it together. He would need something to keep Deku occupied in the meantime…

Well, that wouldn't be hard. If anything, it'd be stupidly easy.

Satisfied with his plan thus far, Katsuki turned his attention to All Might, who was currently announcing the relative skill levels of the students.

At the very top, no surprise, was Ojiro. He had dominated in every match he had fought. All Might even went so far as to request his assistance in future exercises since, while the Number One Hero had oodles of experience and his skills were no joke, he had never needed to develop his actual skill level beyond a certain point and had little formal training in any true martial arts himself. Ojiro had humbly accepted, honored at his teacher's opinion of him.

Todoroki and Katsuki were both ranked highly, as were Shoji, Iida and Yaoyorozu. At the head of the middle of the pack was Ashido, her natural athleticism and reflexes lending themselves well to close-quarters combat. Also in the middle were Kirishima, Sato, Jiro, Sero, Asui, and, just barely, Kaminari.

Those at the bottom (or, as All Might so kindly put it, "those who need the most work") were Uraraka, Aoyama, Koda, Tokoyami and Hagakure. Deku was not ranked because he had been unable to participate.

Katsuki was initially surprised to see Uraraka so low on the list, but then he realized that she relied almost exclusively on her Quirk when fighting.

Speaking of Uraraka…

After class was over for the day and everyone was gathering their things, Katsuki made his move.

"Oi, Uraraka, Deku says he wants to hang out with you over the weekend."

"I said wha-mmph!" Katsuki muffled his friend's protests with a hand and used the same hand to nod his head.

"Oh!" Uraraka had gone a bit pink, "Well, sure! I don't really have anything to do so…"

"I mean, if you don't want to then-"

"No! No, I want to! I was just surprised is all. Is tomorrow okay with you, Deku-kun?"

Katsuki removed his hand and allowed Deku to speak for himself.

"T-that should w-work for m-me j-just fine!" he barely managed to articulate, "W-where should I m-meet you?"

"I'll think about it and text you later, okay?"

"Okay! D-deal!"

Distraction complete.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya found himself in an unexpected situation. This was, paradoxically, not in and of itself unexpected. After all, in a modern world full of Quirks the unexpected happened on a daily basis, to say nothing of what the lives of Heroes were like.

The fact that Izuku was on his way downtown with the intent of spending the day with a girl was certainly unexpected, but no more so than suddenly being attacked by, say, a Sludge Villain.

No, what currently had the inheritor of One For All well and truly perplexed was one simple question:

Was this a date?

Looked at from a logical standpoint, it had all of the basic characteristics of a date: he was going to spend time with a girl with the understanding that it would be just the two of them for an extended period, this had all been premeditated (even if not by him) and an invitation had been extended (even if not by him) and accepted.

But by that logic every time two friends arranged to spend time together it could count as a date and while Izuku certainly liked Kacchan a great deal, he had no desire to date him.

So, there went that theory. Back to square one.

Was this a date?

Having never been on a date before Izuku had no real frame of reference for what was and wasn't implicitly one. He understood that when a couple went out together then it was pretty much inherently a date, but he and Uraraka weren't a couple. Of _that,_ at least, he was fairly certain.

If they had been going to a formal event of some kind then she would have been considered his "date" for said event whether or not what they were doing was a date in the conventional sense or not. But that was not the case today; they were meeting up at the station closest to Uraraka's apartment and were just going to walk around town and see what there was to see. She had told him via text that she would try and come up with some ideas in the interim.

Izuku had said that he would try too, but had shortly thereafter realized that he had no idea what this was actually supposed to _be_ and so everything he came up with either seemed too date-like or not date-like _enough_. The only passable idea he could think of was that they could grab lunch at some point assuming she wasn't sick of him by then.

Was he dressed alright? Uraraka had told him to just wear whatever he felt comfortable walking around in and wouldn't mind possibly getting a little dirty, so he had thrown on a pair of dark cargo pants and a short-sleeved shirt that said "SHIRT" across the chest. His lighter went into one pocket while a notebook and pen went into another just in case.

Before he had left, Izuku had glanced into the mirror. Clothes? Not on backwards. Hair? An untamable mess. Face? Caught somewhere between anxiety and terror. Mom? Standing behind him and giving him the type of smile that said that she had gotten _entirely_ the wrong idea about what he meant when he said that he was "spending the day with a friend."

 _Had_ she gotten the wrong idea?

Was this a date?

Izuku had considered texting Uraraka back and asking, but he had immediately put the kibosh on that plan upon realizing how incredibly awkward that would make things, _especially_ if the answer was "no."

The train had stopped. It was time to get off. The station looked much the same as any other did; crowded and with advertisements everywhere for various things. The one notable difference was the brown-haired girl bouncing up and down on her toes and waving to get his attention.

"Deku-kun! Over here!" he made his way over to her and immediately noticed the differences in her attire when compared to her school uniform. For one thing, she was wearing shorts instead of a skirt and her usual black tights were nowhere to be seen, giving Izuku an unobstructed view of her legs. Quickly forcing himself to look upwards, he saw that she was also wearing a pale, pink button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to just above the elbows.

All-in-all, her outfit looked cute and practical to Izuku. She looked more natural and relaxed than she did in her uniform.

"Uraraka-san, good morning." he greeted her as he drew closer.

"Good morning! You found everything alright then? I know the stop comes up kind of suddenly after the previous one."

"Yeah, your warning from last night really saved me! Thank you for that. You were right about the name of the stop not matching the name of the area. If I hadn't been expecting it, I would have been totally caught off-guard!" she raised her arms into the air and let out an exasperated huff.

" _Thank you_! I don't know why they can't be bothered to fix the recording! Do you know how many times I missed my stop before I got used to it? Three! Three times! I was so embarrassed!"

They shared a laugh and Izuku forgot about his previous anxiety. The icebreaker had served to remind him that it didn't really matter to him what they did or what it was called; he was just happy to be spending time with a friend. He would have to thank Kacchan later.

As the pair exited the subway station via the stairs, Izuku decided to broach the topic of the day's activities. Uraraka blushed a little and rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

"Well, since I told you my story yesterday, you know that I don't exactly have a lot of money…so I usually don't do things that have a price tag on them unless they fit into the budget." she gave him an apologetic look, "I know that kind of limits our options, especially when we're in the city like this."

"It's alright, I understand." Izuku assured her, "My mom and I aren't exactly rich ourselves so I don't go out very often either. I have a bit of money on me that should at least be enough to pay for some lunch though."

"Oh!" she waved her hands back and forth frantically, "You don't have to do that, Deku-kun! I didn't say that to try and convince you to spend money on me! I'm sorry!"

"Ah!" he suddenly realized how that must have sounded and felt his face heat up, "No! No, I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry! Honestly it was the only thing I could come up with for us to do without…without making certain assumptions." he managed to catch himself before he _completely_ ruined the mood, "So, it just seemed right that I would at least pay for that, since you're really doing all of the work here." he finished lamely, feeling like he was admitting to his own social incompetence.

Uraraka blinked at him a few times while she processed what he had said, her expression curiously blank.

"Wow." she finally said, "That's really, really considerate of you, Deku-kun. I guess I can't really refuse if you put it like that, huh? Alright then! Lunch is on you! Don't worry, I know a lot of cheap places around here." she gave him a smile that he had not seen from her before. It looked almost a little shy, "But, there is one thing I need to make sure you understand first, okay?" he could only nod, "I don't see this as a chore; I actually had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for today, so I don't want you to get the wrong idea and start thinking that you're being a burden or something."

She took his hand and started leading him in a seemingly random direction, beaming at him from over her shoulder, "Okay?"

"Yeah." he returned her smile without thinking and nodded his head emphatically, "Okay, Uraraka-san."

Shortly after that he had to warn her before she walked into a pole. That was weird. She usually seemed to have more situational awareness than that. He let this thought fade from his mind when she pointedly kept her face forward for the next few minutes and nothing remotely similar happened.

Was she a little red? Must have been his imagination.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku sat down next to Uraraka at the small noodle stand she had pointed out to him when the pair had decided that they were hungry. He in particular had managed to work up quite the appetite.

Uraraka had started the day by asking him if he had ever been to this part of town before. He responded, quite honestly, that he had not. She had then decided that her mission in life that morning was to show him every interesting shop and landmark that she had come across since she had moved there just over a month prior.

And just like that it was three hours and some change later and Izuku was _starving_. As they placed their order he saw that Uraraka had been quite accurate about the affordability of the establishment: it would take just about a third of what he had on him to pay for their food. While they rested their feet and waited, a question occurred to Izuku.

"Uraraka-san?"

"Hmm?" she leaned forward and propped her head on one hand so she could look at him more easily, as the stools at the stand did not rotate.

"You mentioned that you've lived here for just over a month, right?" she nodded, her expression curious, "Classes only just started this week, so I was wondering what prompted you to move in so early?"

"You really can be curious about just about anything, can't you, Deku-kun?"

Crap! Had he asked something he shouldn't have? Had he made it awkward? Had he- why was she giggling?

"I'm sorry!" she managed through her laughter, "The look on your face was just so funny!"

"I…what?" Izuku was confused.

"Deku-kun, you didn't do anything wrong." she said, having mercy on him, "You can ask me anything, okay? I promise I'll tell you if it's something that I'm not comfortable talking about."

Izuku took a steadying breath. That was good to know, actually. It saved him a lot of guesswork.

"Thank you, Uraraka-san. You can ask me anything too." she nodded in appreciation and then proceeded to answer his previous question.

"Well, it's really nothing too interesting. Once we found out I got accepted into U.A., my parents and I knew that I'd have to get a place somewhere close by since it would be too time-consuming and expensive to take the bullet train twice a day every day just to get to and from school. We did some searching and it just so happened that the lease on my apartment was up a month before class started and the price was right." she shrugged, "Right place at the right time is all there was to it and I figured that if we were gonna be paying for the place then I may as well use it, right? Besides, it gave me some time to get to know the area and adjust to living by myself."

"How is it?" Izuku asked, legitimately curious, "Living on your own, that is?"

"It's…different." she said thoughtfully, "It's not bad or anything. There're plenty of perks to having a place all to myself for sure. I can pretty much do whatever I want whenever I want and there's always something to do in the city." she took a moment to sip her drink, "It…can get a little lonely sometimes though. When you get so used to having other people around you kinda take certain things for granted that you don't realize until they're suddenly just…not there anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still talk to my parents all the time but…"

"It's not the same as being face-to-face with someone." Izuku finished for her.

"Yeah." she agreed.

Their bowls were set in front of them at that moment, steaming hot and smelling like heaven to the hungry teens. As Izuku attacked his ramen, he took the opportunity to process what Uraraka had just said to him.

 _I've never really thought about it, but I can understand where she's coming from. I can only imagine how it would be if I suddenly had to move away and couldn't see Mom or Kacchan anymore. Of_ course _she feels lonely. It's no wonder she was so eager to hang out._

 _Yeah. A sweet, cute, lonely girl who only wants someone to spend her time with._

 _You stay out of this, Other Izuku. Go back to your corner._

 _You gonna ask her if we're on a date or not?_

 _No, I am NOT going to ask her that! We're having a good time right now and I'm not going to ruin it!_

 _What if she says "yes" though?_

 _What if she says "no?" What about that?_

 _At least then you could stop worrying about it._

 _I'll have you know I was doing perfectly_ fine _on that front until_ you _brought it up again!_

… _You do realize that I'm you, right? You're about to start debating semantics with a little voice in your head while said little voice is trying to give you advice, which is in and of_ itself _worthy of concern since, by definition, you cannot give_ yourself _advice._

Great. Now he had a headache.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku had to admit as he paid for their food and they left that the bang for his buck at the noodle stand had been incredible. The food had been as good as anything he had ever had.

"Haah, I feel alive again." Uraraka sighed contentedly.

"Yeah, that hit the spot." Izuku agreed, "Where to now?"

"Hmm…" she took a moment to think before her eyes lit up, "Actually I have a great idea that'll also let us work off some of those noodles! Come with me!" she grabbed his hand again and off they went.

Instead of leading him towards a statue, shop or shrine, Uraraka seemed to be taking them into an older part of town where the number of derelict buildings was higher.

"You remember how I said that I don't really do things that cost money, right? Well, I still had to do _something_ to kill time besides training and window-shopping." she said in response to his unasked question, "So, a lot of the time I just went exploring. Most of the time I didn't really find anything that interesting, but then I started to look at things from a new angle." she led them through an alleyway next to an abandoned parking structure that was littered with chunks of concrete and rebar, "My Quirk lets me explore in ways that nobody else can, you know? I can move debris out of the way or jury-rig an elevator. I can leap onto rooftops as long as I don't do it too much."

She let go of his hand and hopped onto an especially thick slab of concrete that seemed to have come from the roof and spread her arms wide with an expression of wonder on her face.

"Do you see, Deku-kun? With a Quirk like mine, the city is my playground! I can go anywhere I want in a place like this!"

She was so obviously excited to share this with him that Izuku felt bad about having to ask his next question.

"Isn't that illegal though? Using your Quirk in public without a license?"

To his surprise, she shrugged.

"Technically, yeah. Whose gonna care if I'm just playing around some abandoned buildings though? Everyone's practiced with their Quirk in public at some point, Deku-kun. Even you must have. As long as you aren't causing a disturbance or hurting anyone though, then the most you're likely to get is a warning."

Izuku was torn. On the one hand, what Uraraka was saying was the truth. If any form of public Quirk usage being a punishable offense was actually _enforced_ , then there wouldn't be enough space in prison for how many small-time offenders they would get. On the other hand, it _was_ still the law and a prospective Hero probably shouldn't be breaking it.

"Deku-kun?" he came to his senses to find her staring at him with a worried look on her face, "You aren't mad at me, are you?"

Oh, dear god that was simply not fair.

"No, Uraraka-san, I'm not mad at you. You're just giving me a lot to think about today is all. It's not a bad thing, I promise." Izuku gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile and it seemed to do the trick.

"Well, the reason I brought you here is because it's actually one of my favorite spots! Here, let me show you."

He climbed up onto the slab with her and was very surprised when she hopped onto his back and made him weightless, wrapping her legs around his torso.

"Up, up and away, Deku-kun! Right onto the roof!"

"Uraraka-san, that has to be at least ten stories high! I can't make that with a single jump!" not without channeling his flames and possibly breaking his legs, anyway.

"Hmm…what if you took a _few_ jumps?"

He took a moment to examine their surroundings. The building next to them was only about two stories, which he could probably make since Uraraka was lighter than him and they were already a few feet off the ground. After that he could get to the fourth level, then jump and grab that piece of rebar, use that to make his fourth jump…

…that could work.

"Uraraka-san, this will take about five or six jumps, so hang on okay?"

"Right!"

"Smash!" the first jump was the most disconcerting. It was odd to have his center of gravity suddenly be further back than it usually was. That was fine. He could compensate by leaning forward when he landed.

"Smash!" the second jump was taken at a run and sent them through a hole in the wall of the fourth floor of the parking structure.

"Smash! Smash!" the third jump got him high enough that he could grab onto some rebar sticking out of the ruined structure and pull himself up onto it, where he used another smash to leap up to the eighth level and just barely managed to catch himself and crawl into it.

He was momentarily stumped until he saw that there was a convenient hole in the ceiling and roof above them.

"Smash!" with one final jump, they emerged onto the roof of the parking structure and Uraraka released her Quirk.

"Phew." Izuku took a moment to just sit and rest. Jumping was _hard_! All Might always made it look so easy! He needed to do more squats, "I wish I didn't have to go through each smash as a separate movement. It'd be so much easier to do this kind of thing if I could just fire them off one after another." he took the hand that was offered to him, noticing yet again how soft her skin was and the way the sensory pads on her fingertips were just a little squishy.

"Don't worry, Deku-kun! I'm sure you'll get there if you practice. Besides, I think you did a great job! We made it, right?" he nodded, unable to feel too bad when she was so obviously excited.

"Here, look, look!" she pulled him to the edge of the roof where the knee-high wall was still intact and Izuku's jaw dropped.

He was looking out over the cityscape from a hundred feet in the air and suddenly felt a surge of envy for those who had flying or gigantification-type Quirks. The view was nothing short of incredible. He had never seen anything quite like it before. Cars, people, rooftops and the very layout of the streets themselves were visible to him from this vantage point. It was equal parts fascinating and awe-inspiring as he understood on a visual level just how large the city truly was as it lay spread out before him.

"Do you like it?" her voice was closer than he had expected and under any other circumstances he probably would have jumped. As it was he turned his head to see the look of pride on her face as if she could read his thoughts.

"Yeah." he nodded, noticing that his voice was a bit lower than usual, "I can see why you like it here."

"Mhm. Open air, a great view and nobody to bother you." she hopped up onto the ledge and took in the sights around her, a contented smile on her face.

At that moment, seeing her silhouetted against the midday sun, Izuku was in complete agreement about the view.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Dude, for real?!" Kirishima exclaimed with a mixture of disbelief and excitement, "Are you sure this kind of thing is allowed? If it is, then this is going to kick _so_ much ass!"

Katsuki Bakugo looked at his sparring partner as they took a break.

"If I didn't think it could work then I wouldn't have suggested it. I reviewed the school's policies and it looks like all we need is a minimum number of members and a teacher willing to be in charge of the whole thing."

"My man," Kirishima said after taking a long drink of water, "if you can get a teacher in on this, then I know for a _fact_ that you'll be able to get however many members you need. Our class is _full_ of hot-blooded manly types!"

Katsuki nodded in agreement, not being at all worried about reaching the required head count. Hell, if he wanted he could get six signatures basically on-demand and the school only required three or four.

"The only question," Kirishima continued, "is which teacher do you think would go for something like this?"

Katsuki's phone chose that precise moment to vibrate. Even though they were in a U.A. building, class was not currently in session so there was no rule against phone usage. Katsuki read the message and grinned, having gotten exactly the response he wanted. He showed Kirishima and watched as the redhead's grin grew to shit-eating proportions.

"That one."

The message read as such:

 _Bakugo, your request, while certainly an unusual one, does have merit. Your reasons for wanting this are logical and the fact that you made it a point to emphasize the lack of Quirk usage tells me that you have put some thought into the logistical side of things, so that would be one less thing for me to worry about. I will agree to be your faculty advocate for this as long as I don't actually have to do anything apart from sign some papers and it doesn't cut into my naptime. It also goes without saying that it will be disbanded immediately if you start taking things too far. I expect you to have a list of no fewer than four signatures on my desk by the start of class on Wednesday at the latest._

"YES!" Kirishima fist-pumped victoriously, "I can't believe you actually convinced _Aizawa_ to go along with this! This is, like, _every man's dream_!"

"Yeah, it should be pretty sweet." Katsuki agreed. "We just need to get some signatures for Aizawa by Wednesday. I figure why stop at four though? We'll make the announcement during lunch on Monday and I bet you at least half the class will be chomping at the bit to sign up."

* **Vmmm Vmmm** *

It was Katsuki's phone again. He read the new message and couldn't stop himself from chuckling.

 _Troublesome. One of the other teachers found out about this and has expressed a large amount of interest in being an active participant. I hope you weren't planning on keeping this low-key because any chance of that just got shot to hell. He's already talking about setting up martial arts tournaments and streaming them on the internet and how many views they'll get. I'm going to try and talk him down but don't get your hopes up._

"Huh." Kirishima scratched his head, "I wonder who found out?"

* **Vmmm Vmmm** *

 _Greetings, Listener! This is everyone's favorite English teacher! I stole Shota's phone! You have to let me make this a part of my broadcast! Please? Pretty please? We can talk more about it between classes because Shota's catching up to me and he looks angrahdas;lkdhlasg;alf_

"Well I guess if Yamada-sensei is still alive on Monday then you'll have to talk to him about that." Kirishima snickered.

Katsuki just shrugged and started planning ways to take advantage of suddenly having two faculty members involved while he wrote up a signatures page and inked in the label at the top in big block letters.

"What are you gonna call it?" Kirishima asked.

"What do you _think_ I'm gonna call it, dumbass?" Katsuki looked at him like he was stupid and held out the page that he had just signed, "There's only one name that fits."

Kirishima let out a bark of laughter and signed his name below Katsuki's.

"Well I guess when you put it like that I have to agree."

The signature page only had a two-word label, but it got the message across just fine:

Fight Club.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

It was just after four and Izuku and Uraraka were making their way in the general direction of the subway station. Izuku had, after all, promised his mom that he would be home in time for dinner.

They had spent at least an hour on top of the abandoned parking structure looking out at the city from every angle and chatting about miscellaneous things. After that they had taken the long way down by walking through the structure and trying to figure out how it had been damaged and why it had been abandoned. The working theory they had settled on was that it must have been the result of collateral damage from a Hero or Villain and the cost to fix it had just been too high.

As they sat together on a bench and waited for the appropriate train, Uraraka broke the silence.

"I had a lot of fun today, Deku-kun."

"Yeah. I did too." he responded.

And he had. For that one day he had almost been able to forget about his worries and the weight that was on his shoulders as the inheritor of All For One. Never in a million years would he curse that weight, but it was nice to just…forget. For a little while anyway.

"I'd like to do this again sometime." he heard her say.

"I'd like that." he responded.

And he would. He was a bit surprised at how very much he wanted to do something like this again.

But he needed to know something first.

"Uraraka-san?"

"Yes?"

"There's something that I want to ask you. Honestly, it's something that I've been wondering about all day but I didn't want to take the chance of ruining anything, but now…it's driving me crazy and I really just need to know." it had come out sounding a lot more serious than he had intended, but Izuku stood by his words. It was the truth, after all.

"Deku-kun, I said you could ask me anything and I meant it." he looked into her eyes and saw her nervousness. He imagined that he looked very similar at the moment.

"Was this…was this a date?"

There. He had asked. There was no taking it back now. He felt his face heating up and could see hers reddening as she processed his question. She mumbled something that he couldn't quite make out.

"What?"

"Did you want it to be?"

Of all the replies he had expected, that had not been one of them. Izuku was struck dumb, which prompted Uraraka to continue.

"I mean, at first I don't think it was. I just wanted to spend time with you and show you the town, especially after I found out that you've never been here before today! But then…I don't know. For some reason I started to wonder the same thing. I don't really have any frame of reference since I've never been on a date before, eheheh." she started playing with her hair in that way she did when she was embarrassed, "So I guess…you tell me, Deku-kun. If you say this wasn't a date, then I'll be fine with that. And if…" she trailed off, her implication plain for him to see.

 _She doesn't know either. She's in the same situation as me, but what should I say?_

 _The truth. It should always be the truth._

That simple realization somehow made everything clear for Izuku. If it was up to him, then he knew, right then and there, what he wanted the truth to be.

He was terrified. His heart was pounding a mile a minute and his breathing felt shallow.

But he took her hand nevertheless.

"I-if it's up to m-me," he struggled to speak, "th-then…I want the answer to be 'yes.' I've never been on a d-date either, so I d-don't know how it's supposed to b-be, but…I l-like you, Uraraka-san. That's the t-truth. Whether this c-can become anything m-more or n-not I don't know, but I _d-do_ want t-to do this again." she listened to him silently, never breaking eye-contact, "Th-that's the t-truth." he repeated, not knowing what else to say.

He felt something happening with his hand and looked down to see Uraraka's fingers entwining themselves with his. He looked back up as she began to speak.

"It makes me really happy to hear that, Deku-kun, because I like you too." if he had not seen her mouth the words then Izuku would have thought he was suffering from an auditory hallucination, but she wasn't done yet, "I know that it must have been really, really hard for you to say that, so I want to say 'thank you.' I want to make sure you know how much it means to me that you feel the same." she was leaning towards him. Her face was getting closer.

 _Oh shit. She's not…she's not SERIOUSLY going to-?_

 _Sure looks that way, doesn't it?_

 _I'm not- I JUST confessed to her! I can't handle this right now!_

 _Well unless you plan on shoving her away I don't think you've got much choice!_

 _Like hell I'd do that!_

Izuku closed his eyes but remained where he was, anticipating the very worst.

Then he felt something soft press against his cheek for a brief moment before pulling away.

It wasn't what he had feared, but it was still a lot to process right then.

"Don't worry," she really seemed to be able to read his mind right then, "I don't expect you to make it official or anything just because we've agreed to start dating. That was just a 'thank you,' so please don't feel pressured or anything."

Izuku let out a long sigh and sagged into the bench.

"Thanks, Uraraka-san. I needed to hear that."

He really didn't think he could handle anything else that day.

* * *

 **There we go! It's semi-official. To clarify, they are not boyfriend and girlfriend yet. I fully intend to take this slow so as to avoid the trap that a lot of fics fall into of making things go too far too fast.**

 **Now, my question for the week. An interesting suggestion was made to me about limiting my number of reviewer shout-outs (as opposed to just not doing them or PM'ing them, which I have already vetoed). What is everyone's opinion on this? The way I see it, my longest shout-outs are usually to the same people, so limiting myself to just ten wouldn't actually reduce the length all that much. I enjoy taking the time to type up my pre-chapter wall of thanks and I do make sure to bold it so that people can skip it if they want to.**

 **Does anyone think that this should be handled a different way, or is this just the vocal minority talking? I'm not trying to put anyone on the spot, I'm honestly asking. If there is a significant number of people who are legitimately bothered by this then changes can be made, but I won't know if you don't say anything.**

 **Next time we get to see Bakugo recruiting people for Fight Club!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	21. Ch 21: Thank Friends Surprise People

**Not gonna lie: this one fought me. Easily the most trouble I've had with a chapter so far that I can recall. On a lighter note: thank you to everyone for being so responsive on the review response thing! I've taken your feedback into account and, while I know I'll never be able to please _everyone_ , I think I can at least improve the efficiency of the format somewhat while still doing what I want to do.**

 **Basically, I'm going to take responses that would have been more or less identical and just lump them together. If a review fits in more than one lump, then you might see your name multiple times. I will still do full-length responses for particularly in-depth reviews because...they deserve that. Unique reviews that don't fit into a lump will also get individual responses.**

 **So with that, review time:**

 **Jack Inqu, grahamgarrett_powerofanime, pippothehippo, Manny Siliezar, HemaG, sremiehzla, FNZero, SeanPennname, Eberhardt, Malchior, Tism-schism: Thank you for the feedback on the review question. It was very helpful and I hope that the changes are to your liking.**

 **Jack Inqu, grahamgarrett_powerofanime, NPGamer11, Manny Siliezar, dragonightmare, Parkermon, Ignis11, Hanibagder, Tism-schism, Twain apprentice: I'm glad that you are enjoying the romantic progression! I had a lot of fun writing the date. There will be more to come for sure!**

 **Jack Inqu, grahamgarrett_powerofanime, jaciro500, Manny Siliezar, Parkermon, Twain apprentice: I'm happy that you enjoyed the hand-to-hand/are looking forward to the Fight Club! It will give me a nice excuse to have some additional character interactions and whatnot.**

 **Renlu: These types of reviews are always fun to read. I'm glad you enjoyed the origin of the Fight Club and Bakubro being the most efficient wingman ever.**

 **I can practically feel the sheer joy emanating from the rest of this review and I just want to make sure you know how much this made me smile.**

 **A few quick highlights: Other Izuku isn't going anywhere; I enjoy making characters argue with themselves too much. Izuku does not have Full Cowl yet (and if he did, he wouldn't be using Torchbearer's version of it to carry people around if he didn't want them to end up extra crispy). By my calculations, they have actually known each other for about 6.5 weeks at this point since they met during the Entrance Exam, which was on February 26th and the date takes place on April 13th (info on how I figured THAT out in post-chapter A/N).**

 **The chapters leading up to 20 were definitely more on the serious/emotional side of things, so I agree completely that we were due for something like this.**

 **I'm glad you asked about the messaging, because it actually forced me to think about it. I think that the app I'm having everyone use actually handles both texting and emailing. This would eliminate the need to switch back and forth between your text app and email app for the sake of communicating and would let you respond in whatever format you're most comfortable with. Seems like something that people would figure out in the next 200 years or so.**

 **the_narr_master: Your opening line made me laugh, so thanks for that. I absolutely agree that Katsuki is very unlikable early on and am very pleased whenever someone says that they enjoy my interpretation of X character better than their canon counterpart. I'm also happy that you enjoyed the date. I had a lot of fun writing that.**

 **Your idea for Present Mic's videos is actually very interesting. I think I'll incorporate elements of this. Thank you as always for the positive vibes. Unfortunately I had to spend most of them to get through the work week this time XD It's always nice to be appreciated. I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **bhennen: Rest assured that, while the romance will certainly be a big plot point, I do not intend to have it take over. As for Deku going on a "you just hurt my girlfriend" rampage? Needless to say there would be fire. And blunt force trauma.**

 **ZRAIARZ: Welcome aboard and thank you for all the reviews! I'll touch on a couple things here:**

 **The issue of heat resistance will come up, but the primary answer for why he never did anything with it before he obtained OFA is because...that level of heat resistance just isn't something you can build up. Otherwise we'd have career firemen that were nigh-impervious to flames. Your next point about people's bodies adapting to their Quirks basically spells out what my plan is for this going forward though.**

 **I absolutely agree that Full-Cowl will be far more potent than just firing off smashes one at a time, especially when you factor in proper movement, even if the power output is technically the same.** **You are also absolutely correct about Toru's Quirk. I simply forgot when I was writing those notes.**

 **bens6757: Got ahead of me, did ya? :P**

 **The 0bservanc3: I'm glad you agree with my stance on no-Quirk combat and we did indeed see at least one bad matchup in canon (Kaminari vs Shiozaki and Bakugo vs Tokoyami come to mind). What became of Mineta will be revealed...NEXT CHAPTER because this one fought me every step of the way. I will say that the scene where Shinso is introduced will be different.**

 **Kirishima is indeed tougher than the average guy. I'm chalking a big part of this up to the training he did to strengthen his Quirk pre-U.A. As for Katsuki's attitude, I think part of this is due to the fact that he's used to giving this sort of feedback from all the times he's trained with Izuku. What you took from Katsuki's match with Mashirao was...pretty much exactly what I was going for, so, great!**

 **The reason Izuku is out of it has to do with the big moment he had with Dad Might at the end of the previous chapter. He's just emotionally drained. USJ is also a part of it, obviously. What can I say? Girl makes for a good distraction. Post-Gunhead Ochako will definitely place higher. Katsuki did indeed unintentionally play wingman.**

 **I'm glad you enjoyed the date. As for the Quirk-use laws, it's a matter of principal for him more than anything. You are correct that they aren't usually enforced unless there's a legitimate reason (or a hardass of a cop), at least the way I see it. I'm also glad that you're looking forward to Fight Club.**

 **This is indeed another point where it becomes obvious how Izuku is different from canon. And don't worry, I will never use the "we can't be together because we need to get stronger" thing. I hate it just as much as you do. There will of course be drama, but it won't be that. Also, thank you for your feedback on the review question! I think I've found a decent solution, but we'll see what everyone thinks.**

 **coduss: I said that he was _more_ sympathetic, not that he was _that_ sympathetic.**

 **ILiekFishes: So I immediately did a search for this, and it looks like it's actually called "Deku: The Telekinetic Hero" by sremiehzla. It looks cool and I'm for sure going to give it a read, so thank you for letting me know! Thank you for the high praise as well! I hope you continue to enjoy.**

 **uchihaNaruto247, Sentinel07, Engineer of Epicness and everyone else: Thank you for your support and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now let's get into it with the aftermath of last time's date!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: How to Thank Friends; Surprise People

Izuku Midoriya was tired. After the day, no, the _week_ he had had, who could blame him?

He had started high school, been subject to a Quirk Assessment under pain of expulsion (even if it turned out to be a "logical ruse"), almost severely injured at least one of his friends during the Battle Trial, been voted Class Vice-President against his will, fought against actual, honest-to-god Villains, _nearly died_ , discovered that his friend had been emotionally traumatized because of him, gained a heretofore unimagined understanding of the darker side of Heroism and as if that weren't _already_ enough, he had just gotten home from _his first date_.

His first date. Ever. With a really cute girl. Who he really liked. And who said she liked him too.

On an intellectual level, Izuku knew that it had all happened. He knew that he had just had an incredible day with an amazing girl, but somehow it didn't feel completely real.

Why was that? Izuku contemplated this question as he ascended the stairs to his and his mom's apartment.

It wasn't because he didn't understand what had happened; he understood it perfectly well. In fact, he was over the moon about it.

It wasn't because he was in shock; he knew what that felt like thanks to the League of Villains.

It wasn't because he had never expected something like this to happen…

…was it?

Sure, he wasn't confident like Kacchan.

He wasn't tall like Iida.

He wasn't funny like Kaminari.

He wasn't passionate like Kirishima.

He wasn't wise like Shoji.

He wasn't handsome like Todoroki.

He wasn't cool like Tokoyami.

He wasn't refined like Aoyama.

He wasn't casual like Sero.

He wasn't innocent like Koda.

He wasn't muscular like Sato.

He wasn't composed like Ojiro.

He wasn't…forward…like Mineta.

"…Oh."

So _that_ was it.

He just couldn't understand how he had gotten so lucky.

That _was_ what had happened, after all; there was no other explanation for it: he had gotten unbelievably, incredibly lucky.

How else could anyone be interested in _him_?

 _Does it really matter?_

…Did it?

 _You're happy, right?_

He was.

 _Then it doesn't matter._

That could be true. It was most likely true.

…But Izuku's brain didn't work that way. It never had; when he didn't understand something, then he did everything in his power to make it so that he _did_. Bad things, good things, boring things, interesting things, mundane things…

…and amazing things.

But Izuku was tired, so as he unlocked the apartment door and stepped through, he decided that, just for that night, he would let it go.

Just for that night, he would let it not matter.

Just for that night, he would just…be happy.

It had been a hell of a week, after all. And besides, if the way Mom was smiling at him was any indication, then it wasn't over just yet.

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Izuku knew what was coming, but it had yet to happen. His mother had welcomed him home and they had proceeded to eat dinner, as he had arrived right on time. She had asked about his lessons in general, having already heard about all of the big events that had taken place that week.

Dinner was good and afterwards Mom had made the two of them some tea. They were currently seated across from each other at the table and Izuku braced himself; he knew how his mother worked after knowing her for over fifteen years.

"So," Inko Midoriya began after taking a sip of her tea, "how was your date?"

Izuku's first instinct, like many teenagers, was to deny that it was a date. He immediately quashed this notion due to the simple fact that it had taken a great deal of resolve for him to answer that question for himself.

Besides, Uraraka had said that it was up to him and his desire in that regard remained unchanged.

"It was good. Great, actually." Izuku felt himself smiling, "She showed me the part of the city that she lives in. There's actually a lot of interesting things to see that I never would've thought of. She took me to this one place and…the view was incredible." he closed his eyes, pleased to find that he could still remember how she looked against the midday sun, "…There's a lot more to it than I imagined, you know, Mom? I guess I ended up learning that about a lot of things this week."

Izuku couldn't help himself. He laughed, "And all this is only after my first _week_ at U.A.! Imagine how I'll be after three _years_!"

"Izuku, are you alright?" Inko was staring at her son with an intense, searching gaze as though looking for some hidden sign that only she could detect.

"You know, if you had asked me that just yesterday, I might have said 'I don't know.'" Izuku answered honestly, his smile shrinking a little before returning full-force, "But now? Mom, I honestly don't think I've ever been better. I don't know if that's normal and I don't know if it's healthy, but right now…I'm honestly just happy. I feel really, really good about…well, about a lot of things." he had gushed without meaning to and reigned himself in as he started to feel self-conscious, "…I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense."

Inko stood, walked around the table and hugged her son.

"I think it absolutely makes sense, Izuku. You've been through a lot and I don't think it really started to sink in right away. I think you understand how fortunate it is that you and your classmates all made it through alright in the end. I think you may have found someone truly special right when you needed them most and I'm just so happy and proud!" he could hear her getting choked up, "You've grown up so much this past year…you're really turning into the strong, brave young man I always knew you could be and I know that you'll make a fine Hero one day. Just…don't rush into it, okay? What you did at USJ…I understand why you did it, but you shouldn't have _had_ to and I don't want you making a habit out of that, alright? You said yourself that you've only been in the Hero Course for a week. Until you're properly licensed, I want you to avoid situations like that whenever possible. Understand, Izuku?"

Izuku did not like lying, _especially_ to his mother, but he was just too tired to rehash this particular argument and he knew that it would just be a lost cause anyway. The fact of the matter was that Izuku had no regrets about the actions he had taken. Could he have come to the rescue faster? Been better? Of course he could have, but the same could be said for nearly any Hero or, heaven forbid, well-meaning Vigilante.

"I understand, Mom."

That, at least, was the truth.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

* **Knock knock** *

It was Sunday morning, and Izuku was rapping his knuckles on the front door of the Bakugo residence.

"Yeah, what do you wa- oh." Kacchan cut himself off when he opened the door and saw who it was, adopting an annoyed expression, "How many times do we have to tell you that you don't have to knock, Deku? Just walk your ass in whenever the fuck you feel like it."

"Sorry, Kacchan, but that's just not how I do things."

"Don't call me 'Kacchan.'"

"Don't call _me_ 'Deku.'"

"Fuck you, I'll call you what I want."

"Same here, then. And I'll keep knocking too."

"Tch. Whatever. Just get your ass inside unless all you wanted was to knock on my door."

As tempting as that offer was, Izuku decided to follow Kacchan inside.

"Oh, Izu-kun. Morning." Mitsuki greeted him sleepily from the couch, "Want anything? Toast? Coffee?"

"Good morning, Mitsuki-san. No, thank you. I already ate and I don't really like coffee."

"Suit yourself." she went back to watching TV.

"Well, what do you want, Deku?" Kacchan asked.

"Can we go to your room first?" Izuku jerked his head in Mitsuki's direction. Kacchan nodded in understanding and took them upstairs.

Once the pair was in his room and the door was closed, Kacchan turned around expectantly.

What he had _not_ expected was for Izuku to grab him in a brief but powerful hug.

Izuku had put a great deal of thought into this plan that morning. He had actually woken up early in spite of his fatigue just so he could have more time to decide how to approach it.

"Deku? What the-" Kacchan had stiffened up and seemed to be lost for words.

In hindsight, there was really no reason for Izuku to have put too much thought into it.

"Thank you, Kacchan. Just…thank you."

Honesty was always the best policy, after all.

"I know you did what you did to make me feel better and…it worked. You've always been there for me, but I feel like I've never really said it before, so…thank you."

"Eh?" Izuku took a moment to appreciate how rare of an occasion it was to see Kacchan well and truly dumbstruck, "What I did? But I haven't even _told_ you about that yet! How'd you find out?! The only other people who know are Aizawa, Yamada and Kirishima!" Kacchan's eyes widened and his hands tensed and sparked like they always did when he was especially angry, "Son of a bitch! Kirishima! It was _him_ , wasn't it?! He couldn't keep his mouth shut and texted you about it! I _told_ him what the plan was! Damn it! He's too earnest for his own good!"

"Huh?" now Izuku was the one who was confused, "Kacchan, what are you talking about?"

"What?!" Kacchan seized Izuku by the shoulders and shook him, "What do you mean what am _I_ talking about?! What the fuck are _you_ talking about?!"

"Yesterday! You got me that date with Uraraka-san! We both had a really, really good time! Why am I yelling at you?!"

"I don't fucking-" Kacchan's face suddenly went blank, "…wait, 'date?' I did what?"

Okay. _Now_ Izuku was confused.

"What do you mean 'I did what?' You basically asked her out for me."

Their prior stargazing engagement notwithstanding, of course, but that had technically been Uraraka taking the initiative and Izuku didn't want to tell Kacchan about that just yet. It just seemed premature.

"I…what? No! I was just trying to get you out of the way! I just needed you distracted for a day so I could set up my _real_ plan! That…she…" Kacchan seemed to be having some sort of mental breakdown, "It wasn't supposed to happen like this! I mean, what the fuck?! It was a throw-away and now you've got a fucking _girlfriend_?!"

"G-girlfriend?! No!" Izuku waved his arms in a frantic set of motions that would have made Iida proud, "We've just agreed to start dating! She's not my girlfriend ye-" _GAAAAAAAAAAAH,_ "She's not my girlfriend, okay?!"

Kacchan turned around, walked to his bed and plopped himself down onto it, letting out a long, deliberate breath.

"Okay. Alright. That's fine. I overreacted. Sorry."

Izuku considered giving his friend a moment, but his curiosity was far too strong to resist asking:

"So…what _were_ you planning?"

"You seriously have no idea?"

"I promise I don't."

"Great. So I just blew my own surprise. Man, this sucks."

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling guilty.

"Well, I mean, I can always pretend I never heard anything? I still don't have any idea what it is, after all."

"Don't patronize me, Deku. If you want to know, then I'll tell you. You were gonna find out tomorrow anyway. Heh," Kacchan chuckled, "what am I saying? This is you we're talking about; of _course_ you want to know, right?"

"I really do, yes." Izuku had to admit.

"Alright, then listen up, 'cause I'm only explaining this once."

As Izuku listened dutifully, he had to admit that this plan did indeed have Kacchan written all over it.

Who knew? It might be fun.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"You okay, kid?"

MItsuki Bakugo was standing in her son's doorway, having just seen Izuku off a moment prior. She had not heard everything, but she had the gist of what the conversation had been about from the raised voices that had carried down the stairs.

Throughout her life, Mitsuki held no illusions about the fact that she had been blessed. She had been given a Quirk that would keep her beautiful almost indefinitely, a loving husband with a great career and a son who had been blessed in his own right.

Katsuki. Her Katsuki. He was strong and smart. He had high ambitions and an amazing Quirk. He had the best friend that anyone could ever ask for and it seemed like he was well on his way to making even more.

MItsuki was proud of the man that her son was becoming, not that she would tell him. Not yet. Not until he had well and truly made it. Tough love was the name of the game in the Bakugo household and it was working well so far.

There was one thing though. One thing with which her son was struggling with; _had_ struggled with for the past few years at this point.

Unfortunately, there was nothing that Mitsuki or her husband could do to make things easier on their son in regards to this. All they could do was to offer their support to him whenever he needed it.

Judging from Katsuki's most recent discussion with Izuku, it seemed that fate truly did have a sense of humor; it gave him everything that he could want or need except for this.

But he would persevere. He would remain unbowed and unbroken, no matter what happened.

Knowing this did nothing to make the sight of her baby staring at her with pain in his eyes any less heart-wrenching. All the more because she understood _exactly_ what was causing it.

"The hell kind of question is that?" his words were just as she had expected, but there was no edge to them. There never was in moments like these, "Of course I am. I have to be, right? What choice do I have?" she could see his shoulders shaking, but no tears fell; he had gotten rid of those a few days ago, "I'm going to be the best. I'm going to stand at the very top. I will be uncontested and unassailable! No Villain will stand against me and all Heroes will aspire to be like me!" only his determination remained, "So I can't…I can't let something like _this_ fuck with my head!"

He was correct. Her son was usually correct; he understood both himself and the world around him on an intellectual and instinctive level and his instincts rarely led him astray.

Being correct, however, did not necessarily mean that you were _right_ and whatever else her son may be, Mitsuki simply could not bring herself to accept that her son was doing the right thing in forcing his feelings down like this.

The fact remained, however, that she was unable to think of anything better for him to do, save for the one course of action she knew that he would never take unless he was forced to do so.

 _Eventually, something has to give. He's far too intelligent and knows my son far too well. What will you do then, Katsuki?_

… _I guess only time can answer that._

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Monday started off normally enough. After first period was over though, things started to develop in ways that made Izuku glad that he had been given some warning the day prior.

For one thing, Kacchan had shanghaied him into making a brief announcement during the few-minute break between classes that there would be something to discuss with everyone during their lunch break. After that, they were pulled aside by Present Mic who was practically bursting at the seams to discuss something with them.

"A week! I've had to wait an entire _week_ to talk to you about this, my young Listeners! I'm telling you, it was almost more than I could bear!"

Izuku knew that Present Mic was the high-strung sort and more than a little hammy, it was part of his charm after all, but interacting with him face-to-face was still taking some getting used to.

"What did you want to talk about, Yamada-sensei? Is it about the F- er, that is, Kacchan's plan?" Izuku caught himself just in time as Kacchan glared at him out of the corner of his eye. He had to make sure not to ruin the surprise again.

"Ah, very astute, Listener! That is indeed one of the topics I wished to discuss, BUT! Before that! Yes, _before_ that; there is the matter of your absolutely _fantastic_ performance during the Battle Trial!"

"The…Battle Trial? What did we do that has you so excited, Sensei?" Present Mic looked absolutely shocked at this question.

"What, you ask? Do you mean to say that everything that you did…was just you being yourselves? None of it was planned? None of it was scripted?"

"He's talking about our banter, Deku." Kacchan translated for him, "That shit we did with Lord Explosion Murder, Dr. Vertigo and Infinity Girl."

"That? We were just having fun!" Izuku protested, "It wasn't anything special; we've always done that! Everyone knows that banter is an integral part of Heroism! A lot of Villains have shot themselves in the foot by spending too much time monologuing and letting the Hero's backup arrive, for instance."

Present Mic was staring slack-jawed at Izuku as though he had never seen anything quite like him before. He looked at Kacchan for confirmation and was greeted with a sigh.

"Yeah. He's telling the truth, Sensei. We've been doing stuff like that ever since we were little."

"…I think I'm in love." Present Mic said to himself, still plenty loud enough to be heard before he raised his voice again, "My dear Listeners, I would very much like your permission to take the recordings of your exploits and post them on the internet, edited for entertainment value, of course. That goes for the Battle Trial as well as potentially some snippets from your, * **ahem** *, organization."

Well, that was unexpected. Flattering too.

"Ordinarily, I'd be wary of something like this, Sensei." Izuku admitted, "After all, having our Quirks broadcast to the general public could make things difficult for us in the future, but I guess we only really had about three weeks before that happened anyway, huh?"

"Heh." Kacchan smirked, "Occupational hazard of attending U.A., huh?"

"Oh?" Present Mic dropped his theatrical façade for a moment and gave the pair a sly grin, "So you've already figured it out, have you? I suppose it's obvious to anyone who _really_ pays attention, but students always end up surprised by it somehow." he then did a quick pirouette and made finger guns at his students, "So, does that mean that I have your consent, Listeners?"

"I'm fine with it as long as you show it to me first." Kacchan stated.

"I'm fine with it too, Sensei, but you should probably also talk to Uraraka-san and Shoji-san since they played a big role in the Battle Trial too. Then, when it comes to the matter of the F- * **cough** * the _group_ , you should also get permission from whoever else decides to join up."

"Naturally, naturally." Present Mic waved a placating hand at the pair, "This isn't my first rodeo, Listeners; I'm fully aware of the steps that need to be taken and besides, you are my precious students; I would never do anything to defame you or cause you undue stress. I'm a Hero too, you know?"

With a smile and a wave, he was gone.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Lunchtime was upon them and that meant that it was time for Kacchan's big announcement. He made his way to the front of the room as soon as the bell rang and stood in front of Aizawa's desk, getting everyone's attention immediately.

"Alright, everyone quit your yapping and clean the crap out of your ears because I'm only going over this once." he slapped the sign-up sheet onto the desk for emphasis, "I wanna start by saying that I've already gotten official approval for this, so don't give me any shit about that." Iida adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat sheepishly, "So, you all know that no-Quirk sparring we did on Friday?" the class gave various forms of affirmation, "I'm basically taking that and turning it into a club. We'll be meeting at least once a week, but maybe more depending on how things work out. Club activities will consist of two main parts: beating the shit out of each other and then talking about how we could have done it better. Nobody worry about getting too fucked up though; my approval required me to promise that we wouldn't take things too far and just like in class, Quirk usage isn't allowed." he took a moment to survey his audience before concluding, "If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, then get your ass up here and sign the paper. Any questions?"

Predictably, Iida raised his hand.

"Am I correct in assuming that the purpose of this club is similar to that of the in-class exercise in that it is meant to improve overall combat ability and physical conditioning?"

"Mostly just because it's fun, but yeah, that too." Kacchan replied flippantly.

"Can't argue with that!" Ojiro cheerfully made his way to the desk and signed his name. He was followed closely by Sato, Kaminari, Jiro, Sero, Shoji and Ashido.

"Deku-kun, Kirishima-san, aren't you two going to sign up?" Uraraka asked.

"Already done!" Kirishima responded with pride, "You're looking at members two and three!"

"Oh!" Uraraka quickly joined the queue, followed strangely enough by Todoroki, who was followed in turn by Hagakure.

"I mean," the invisible girl said when Todoroki gave her a raised eyebrow, "I don't have a combat-type Quirk so any fighting I do is going to be hand-to-hand anyway. I may as well get better at it even if I plan on normally avoiding it, right? Besides, it seems like a good excuse to hang out with everyone outside of class."

Her explanation caused Asui and Yaoyorozu to join the queue, leaving Koda, Tokoyami and Aoyama as the only ones still on the fence.

"Oh, come on guys!" the ever-bubbly Ashido said, "Everyone's doing it and it seems like it'll be super fun!"

"Hell yeah!" Kirishima added, "Everyone's manliness levels are going to skyrocket after a few sessions of this!"

"Ah~," Aoyama sighed dramatically, "I suppose that improving my physical attributes would increase my desirability as a Chevalier, even if fisticuffs are not my forte. Add to this the fact that so many are participating and I would be sure to fall behind if I did not do so as well."

With that, the twinkling boy added his name to the list as well. He then looked towards Tokoyami and Koda expectantly.

"Koda-san dislikes violence and I do not fight myself." Tokoyami supplied.

" **Yeah, he's pretty much useless.** " Dark Shadow added his two cents while poking his head out of his partner's stomach.

"…You know what, I'm joining _just_ for that." the bird-headed student headed to the desk, "Koda-san, you join too. No matter how much you dislike it, it is inevitable that you will have to fight if you aspire to be a Hero. After all, those who would protect must endure more pain than anyone else."

Koda appeared reluctant, but after a moment of internal debate he wrote his name at the very bottom of the page, making it official: the entirety of Class 1-A were now members of the Fight Club.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

After class that day, Toshinori Yagi had requested young Midoriya's presence in the lounge again and the boy had agreed to be there. The situation was very similar to that from their lunchtime conversation on Friday, except without the time constraint.

"Thank you for humoring me for two days in a row, my boy," the skeletally-thin Symbol of Peace inclined his head from where he sat on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees, "I am sure you have other things that you would rather be doing."

"No!" Midoriya shook his head a bit more forcefully than was strictly necessary, "All Might, I would _never_ turn you down! You know that!"

That…that hit home. Toshinori knew that the boy idolized him and trusted him implicitly (a sentiment that was fully reciprocated), but even so, he was still caught off-guard by the young man's zeal.

"Be that as it may, I have no desire to take advantage of you in such a way. My purpose today is to finish the * **hurk** * discussion that I originally intended to * **blegh** * have on Friday." he took a moment to clean the blood off of his chin before continuing, "While we certainly ended up covering some very important topics, we were unfortunately not able to address my original reason for meeting with you as I did."

Midoriya nodded at him from his stool on the other side of the coffee table and was clearly giving Toshinori his undivided attention.

"What I really wanted to talk about was the upcoming Sports Festival, of which you are no doubt aware." Midoriya nodded again, "You are familiar with how it works, yes? You will be pitted against your classmates, many of whom are powerful in their own right. Why, I can think of a few from your class alone that could potentially give you trouble!"

"Yeah. Kacchan knows my style inside and out, not to mention his raw power, Kirishima-san could probably endure nearly anything short of lethal force, Iida-san would be difficult just to land a solid hit on and then you have the likes of Todoroki-san and Tokoyami-san with Dark Shadow where they're just plain powerful and those are just off the top of my head! I could lose to anyone in 1-A under the right circumstances. You don't need to worry about me letting my guard down, All Might!" he concluded with a fist pump and a determined stare.

"A commendable mindset, my boy, but that is not what I was driving at. I wanted to ask you how your control over One For All is progressing. You obviously have a good grasp on Flame Magnet, though there is always room for improvement with any Quirk, but from what I can tell you are still facing some fundamental issues when it comes to using the other parts of your powers, not the least of which are the injuries that you sustain when wielding them beyond a certain level."

"Well, my Hero Costume is designed to help mitigate the damage somewhat, especially when it comes to the burns." Midoriya explained, "From the limited use I've gotten out of it so far, it actually seems to do the trick up to a certain point. I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly how much is too much, but I would guess somewhere around twenty or twenty-five percent, maybe a bit higher but not by a lot."

"And what about the physical repercussions?" Toshinori prompted.

"I can use my basic smashes comfortably now, which I would estimate to be around five percent of my power. To use anything higher than that, I have to start burning fuel and the flames become a factor so, again, I haven't really had that much freedom to experiment. I would guess that I could use up to ten percent without doing any real damage, though that would probably be limited to just a few times. I can tell that it's getting better the more my body gets used to it though."

"You mentioned fuel. You mean the flames that you consume?" an affirmative nod, "How much can you store at the moment?"

"I can store up enough for a single attack at one-hundred percent and maybe have some dregs left over, but not enough to do anything with. It's possible that I could increase my capacity through training but, again…"

"Lack of freedom to experiment, right?" Toshinori guessed.

"Well, yeah." Midoriya shrugged helplessly, "It's not like I can just go outside and start playing with fire. Heck, the only reason I was able to contribute as much as I did at USJ was because there's an entire area that's…always on…fire…"

The boy had zoned out hard and Toshinori could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

"All Might?"

"Yes, my boy?"

"USJ is still considered a part of U.A., right? It's just a facility like any other?"

"It is indeed."

"Would it be possible for me to get permission to visit it outside of class for Quirk training purposes?"

 _I like how this boy thinks._

"Well, as you are unlicensed, unsupervised Quirk usage would be prohibited, _especially_ in an area as hazardous as USJ. Now, say you were able to find a teacher who had a vested interest in your development and was able to spare the occasional hour or two…" Toshinori trailed off, letting the implication of his words sink in.

"You…you would do that for me, All Might?"

"Midoriya, my boy," Toshinori began, "I granted you my power so that you could succeed me! I will do anything and everything within my capabilities to help get you ready to do that. It may be slow and the day-to-day might not seem like much, but the time that I have left as the Symbol of Peace is running out. If the League of Villains has shown us anything it is that among those with Villanous intent there are some who have started to realize that. The rumors will only spread and the actions of such individuals will only grow bolder."

Toshinori took a moment to sip some tea in an attempt to stave off another fit of coughing.

"The Sports Festival is an event that the entire country will be watching and while that might sound intimidating, it also presents us with the perfect opportunity! We shall devote our spare time into improving your use of One For All and coming up with strategies to use when you are denied your Hero Costume, as will be the case for this event. Then, when all eyes are on you, you shall hold your head high as the next Symbol of Peace and you will tell them all one thing: 'I am here!'"

Midoriya closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

"I get it. If I'm going to make a big impression, this is the time to do it, right? Especially while the footage from USJ is still relatively new. There's a good chance that people might recognize me from that, so I need to capitalize and strike while the iron's hot, so to speak."

"And how are you going to do that, my boy?" Toshinori honestly hadn't thought quite as far ahead as his protégé, but he wasn't about to stop his train of thought once it got going.

"There's only one way to get people's attention at the Sports Festival and that's to make a good showing. I'll need to make it through to the final stage and then just do my best. I don't necessarily expect to win, but…"

"Then you're doomed."

"What?"

"My boy, you should always aim for the top no matter what. The difference between those who make a habit of it and those who don't may seem small at first, but it starts to matter in a really big way once you emerge into society as a whole. Just think about young Bakugo if you want an example of this sort of mindset."

Midoriya nodded.

"Right. You're absolutely right. I need to pull out all the stops and go at it with everything I have!"

Toshinori was pleased with his student's determination and was about to offer some final words of encouragement when an urgent-sounding series of knocks came from the door.

Toshinori quickly assumed his muscle form and opened the door to reveal a worried-looking Ashido.

"Sensei! Midori! Come quick! We need to stop them or there's gonna be a fight!"

* * *

 **I did accomplish one neat little thing that I've been meaning to do for a while: I have an actual calendar with everyone's birthdays and some important canon events labelled on it. Now I can actually PLAN shit that's more than a day or two ahead. I ended up using the year 2222 because...well, I had to pick something and I figured "why not?"**

 **There is one decision that I made related to this that is different than canon, and that is that U.A.'s standard schedule is Monday thru Friday instead of Monday thru Saturday. I say "standard" because as canon has shown us with the Quirk Assessment taking place on a Sunday, they can just kind of tack on days whenever they feel like it. This means that occasionally there will be something on the weekend that is U.A.-related, but generally there will not.**

 **What's got Mina so worried? Who's starting a fight? That's where we'll pick up next time but hey, theories are always welcome! That goes for anything, really.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	22. Chapter 22: Let's Make a Deal

**Alright, I feel like I've hit my stride again with this chapter, especially in regards to comedy. On another note, we have officially broken 900 Follows! The almighty 1,000 milestone doesn't seem so impossible now.**

 **Review time:  
**

 **jaciro500, Jack Inqu, The 0bservanc3, Guest : Well, almost all of you guessed correctly that Katsuki is one of the people involved. NOBODY guessed who the other one is though! MUAHAHAHAHA!**

 **the_narr_master, NPGamer11, Sigmund the Fraud, Sabre96, Jack Inqu, ZRAIRZ, Alexzander95, pippothehippo, Markus-Antonius, Dark Murcielago, FireSharingan359, Death of Snipers : We got a lot of people guessing what's going on with Katsuki and I gotta say, most of you are right on the money. I won't say it outright for the benefit of those who haven't figured it out yet, but I WILL say that this is something I've had planned since the beginning and have been dropping hints about for a while now.**

 **avidreaded : This totally makes sense. I'm using this.**

 **the_narr_master : You bet! I totally agree that a huge chunk of All Might's success is due to his marketing and definitely mean to include this as a factor in the story. He probably knows a thing or two about it. Thanks as always for the vibes! They really seem to have helped this time because this chapter came out a lot easier.**

 **bhennen , uchihanaruto247: He will certainly improve. Part of my intention is for him to gradually become more and more familiar with his Quirk so that Full-Cowl doesn't just come out of nowhere like it sort of does in canon. Seriously, that shit takes a LOT more control than a lot of people probably realize. Try tensing every muscle in your body at once. Now shadowbox.**

 **Engineer of Epicness : Thank you! I am interested in this idea of yours. Please share.**

 **Hybrid of Fate : That sounds really cool. I'mma go watch it right after I finish these notes!**

 **EDIT: I watched it. He does good work as always but I don't think I'm going to use these numbers. For one thing I don't understand his math well enough to put it into practical use and for another, much bigger reason (which he admits to in the video), going into that much depth sort of defeats the spirit of the story (the power to defy fate or go over 100%, anyone?). I think I've struck a good balance of knowing JUST ENOUGH to keep everyone consistent but still allowing for that little something that makes these types of stories great. Plus...I'm lazy. I don't want to have to make a dozen calculations every time someone throws a punch XD**

 **NPGamer11 : Gonna level with you: I'm not entirely sure if he will pass on the flames or not and this story probably won't go that far (or if it does then it'll take a LONG time). At the very least it should have some heat resistance or something tacked on to it though.**

 **Reverseflash : Thank you! You are quite correct on the Quirks mutating over time. I will say that he will never become truly pyrokinetic. His powers will be limited to attracting fire, though he will have some creative ways to use that. I do not know of any other stories that have Izuku with a fire-type Quirk, which was one of the reasons I decided to take that idea and use it myself, though I am sure that they exist somewhere.**

 **Now, your final predictions deserve special praise. I'm not sure but I think that you might be the first reviewer to nail down EXACTLY what my plan is. Good job. You get a cookie.**

 **Malchior : This is a good point, though Izuku has actually demonstrated this ability in Torchbearer. In the Quirk Apprehension test, for example, he only used his hand for the ball throw. It is certainly true that this ability won't be as prominent as it was in canon, but it's worth noting that he does have it. My AFO fight will certainly be different than canon, though I have not yet gotten to the point of nailing down the details.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Good suggestion for the reviewer names. I don't know why I didn't think of this before. In all honestly I'm not sure if 1-A ever thinks about this again, since immediately after they have Battle Trials, USJ and the Sports Festival to deal with (and that's just in canon). He is indeed thinking of Ochako. I do believe that Izuku is just ridiculously humble to the point of not having a high opinion of himself compared to others. You pretty much nailed the mood of the Inko/Izuku convo (as you usually do).**

 **Katsuki has indeed not gotten as many hugs as most other kids, at least not since he graduated elementary school. As for the dating but not being official thing, I actually went through something like that myself and it's pretty simple. You go hang out, you flirt, there's a general sense that you're both interested but you never take it beyond a certain point (i.e. no kissing or funny business) and of course, there's no sense of commitment. It's fun to see your reaction to figuring out Katsuki's secret. I have indeed planned this out from the beginning as you are now discovering.**

 **I do believe that a lot of Present Mic's persona is just that: a persona. He's an experienced Hero who knows what's what and is a fundamentally good guy. The idea of giving Hagakure laser beams is a fun one, but I think that she'll have some trouble remaining invisible with all that gear. An invisible costume I can believe, but invisible tech/weapons? That's pushing it for me. I probably won't do this, but she will definitely develop more uses for her Quirk! I will say that we have not seen all there is to see about Fight Club yet. I don't think it's spoilers to say that there will be more members in the future.**

 **Dark Murcielago : You post as many reviews as you want as long as they all have something unique to say. I never get sick of them. Hell, just ask my regulars! XD I'm curious as to what your two favorite types of fanfics are.**

 **Death of Snipers : Welcome aboard and thank you for the review injection! Much appreciated. A few highlights:**

 **I appreciate your appreciation of me trying to keep things consistent. Thank you for your three things! This is high praise to be sure. The idea of Shigaraki making character sheets for people to try and figure out how to deal with them is a really interesting one. There will certainly be more Fight Club members in the future. I actually have two OC's already in the form of Spike and special officer Kiji, but I do not plan on having OC's for the sole purpose of shipping. There's plenty of other characters I could use for that ;)**

 **Twain apprentice:** **I'm gonna go watch it right after I post this but I'm sure it's awesome. You're dead right about Bakugo though and that'll be shown more relatively soon. Tournaments are my favorite thing ever so...I'mma probably do that, yes. As for the rest of your questions:\**

 **1) I'll add this to the votes that I started collecting a long time ago for sure. (Those are STILL OPEN btw for anyone who hasn't voted or has new suggestions!) 2) As with every other arc, my Overhaul arc will be different for sure. Haven't gotten quite so far as determining exactly HOW yet, but it will be. 3) This question will be answered...RIGHT NOW! 4) I don't really know that much about Melissa Shield apart from the fact that she's Dave's (the guy that made All Might's gear) daughter and that All Might inspired her to follow in his footsteps. I actually haven't seen the OVA's and really should do that. I will reserve judgement until then.**

 **trustyCounselor, bor902, Guest, Youdontseethis and everyone else: Thank you for your support and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, who wants a chapter entirely from Kirishima's perspective? I know I did!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two: Let's Make a Deal

Eijiro Kirishima was pumped. This in and of itself was not unusual; he was often pumped. In fact, he made it his business to be pumped as often as possible and about as many things as possible.

This was easier at some times than others, but being manly meant not sweating the small stuff and Eijiro Kirishima was nothing if not manly.

Be manly. That was his mantra. Strong. Dependable. The kind of person that could be relied on no matter what.

He wasn't there yet; Eijiro knew that. He was better than he used to be, but he was still a far cry from the likes of Crimson Riot. The type of man who could hold his head high and face any obstacle in his way. Unbending. Unyielding.

Unbreakable.

Due to the excitement of being accepted into and subsequently starting classes at U.A., Eijiro had no shortage of things to be pumped about. This was without even mentioning the fact that he had just helped to found a _goddamn_ _ **Fight Club**_.

He was hyped. He was _beyond_ hyped. This would be the ultimate gathering place for cultivating manly fighting spirits. Not to mention that these types of activities were bound to foster friendships between the participants. Everyone knew that there were some conversations that could only be had with one's fists and that a good, clean fight could solve a lot of problems.

Yessir. It would just be an all-around good time and everyone would come out of it better than when they went in.

Speaking of going out, it looked like some of his classmates were having difficulty doing that due to the large crowd of students clustered outside of their classroom.

"There are quite a few of them. I would say at least four or five dozen." Shoji answered Eijiro's unasked question, obviously having noticed the situation for himself. Eijiro whistled at the number.

"Damn. Any idea what they want?"

"Come on, that's obvious, isn't it?" Bakugo said as he walked past, motioning with one hand for them to follow him, "They're just a bunch of small-fry scoping out the competition. We're the kids who survived a Villain attack, after all. The story's had more than enough time to spread by now. It makes sense that they'd want to take a look before the Sports Festival, no matter how pointless it really is in the end." he had reached the doorway by now and raised his voice to address the crowd, "Get out of the way, cannon fodder! Don't waste my time!"

In Eijiro's opinion, this was going a bit too far, but he couldn't help but respect Bakugo's manliness. He was strictly no-bullshit in everything he did and that was an honorable way to live in Eijiro's eyes, even if he could stand to dial it back sometimes.

"Can we please not resort to calling those we don't even know 'cannon fodder?!'" Iida was apparently of a similar opinion judging by that outburst.

"My, my." a boy with short, slick blond hair and blue eyes who was the same height as Eijiro emerged from the throng, a sarcastic smile on his face, "Such condescension. Such arrogance. I suppose this is only to be expected from the high and mighty Class 1-A though, huh?" he gestured to the crowd around him, as though he were cluing them all in to some kind of joke, "After all, they got to face off against Villains a mere three days into their schooling. They even got some sweet publicity out of the deal; the media was all _over_ them. I can only imagine how inflated their egos must be after all of that, right?"

"You got something you wanna say, Jerkass?!" Bakugo was clearly irritated with this newcomer. Eijiro couldn't blame him; making such huge generalizations about the entire class just based on one person? That was dumb.

"Oh my, no." the blond boy gave a placating wave of his hand, though his smile had only widened, "I'm only here to observe; just as you inferred. In fact, maybe you could help me? I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the real celebrity of the moment: that one boy who was shown breathing fire at that monster? They didn't show his face, of course, but I'm sure with that ridiculous hair of his I'd have no trouble recognizing him."

Eijiro could only see Bakugo's back at the moment, but he could hear his gritted teeth through his response.

"He's not here. He's talking with All Might."

"All Might? My word, of all people of _course_ it would be All Might!" the boy seemed just a little bit _too_ surprised by this in Eijiro's opinion, "First the media attention, now some one-on-one time with the Symbol of Peace himself? I'll bet he's _loving_ all of this! Maybe I should be happy that he's not here? With all of this attention going to his head, he must be even more full of himself than _you_ , eh?"

Oh, shit.

This was not good.

"Bakugo, NO!" Eijiro acted on a gut feeling and immediately thanked the gods that he was correct when he just barely managed to put his friend into a full-nelson before he charged the blond boy.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Bakugo strained against his captor, but Eijiro refused to release him, "I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Shit. Shit. ShitshitshitshitshitSHIT.

Something. He needed to do something. They needed someone to break this up.

Aizawa wasn't around. He had to go to the infirmary per Recovery Girl's orders immediately after class. He had griped about it to himself as he left. Who did he know for sure would be around?

Midoriya. He could get through to Bakugo if anyone could. In desperation, he called out to the first person he could think of who would be quick enough without a Quirk.

"Ashido!"

"I'm here, Kiri!" she was at his side at once, "What can I do?"

"I need you to find Midoriya and I need you to do it _fast_!"

"Got it!" she squeezed past and ran off immediately.

"Check the teacher's lounge!" Iida called out after her, obviously frustrated that he couldn't squeeze through the doorframe with the other two boys currently occupying it.

"Goddamn it, Kirishima! LET ME GO! I'm gonna _paste_ this motherfucker!" holy hell, Bakugo was _strong_. Without Hardening, how long Eijiro would be able to hold him in place was starting to become a concern.

"No way!" Eijiro responded, "You're gonna get yourself in a ton of trouble if you go through with this! He's not worth it!"

"You hear that?!" the blond boy spread his arms and turned on the spot, "'Not worth it' he says! We're all nothing more than gnats to the great and powerful Class 1-A! As soon as someone challenges their superiority, they lash out with threats and violence! And they claim that they want to be Heroes? Are these really the types of people we want in the Hero Course? We would _never_ resort to such things in 1-B! _That's_ where the _real_ Heroes-in-Training are! Class 1-A is just full of attention-whoring media darlings who happened to be in the right place at the right time! Just like that fire-breather!"

"SHUT YOUR _FUCKING MOUTH_ _ **YOU COCKSUCKER**_!" Bakugo's efforts to break Eijiro's hold suddenly redoubled as he screamed at the young man who seemed dead-set on digging his own grave with such force that his voice cracked and he coughed a few times before continuing, "You don't get to stand there and pretend that you understand! You don't get to act like you could have done any better! YOU DON'T GET TO TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Kaminari shoved his way past the doorway and stood between 1-A and their nay-sayer, arm flung out in front of Bakugo, "I'm the Class President of 1-A and I won't let you stand by and insult us like this! What happened at USJ…that was _real_. People could have _died_. The fact that nearly all of us got out with minimal injuries is a freaking _miracle_. If All Might and the other teachers hadn't shown up when they did, then there's a _really_ good chance that we wouldn't _be_ here for you to talk shit to, so kindly shut the hell up and go back to wherever you came from before your ignorance gives us all brain cancer or something."

"Heheheh. But, one of you _isn't_ here, right?" Eijiro was starting to doubt the blond boy's sanity, because his smile had evolved into a full-on shit-eating grin, "One of you couldn't take the pressure and left U.A. for good!"

Eijiro blinked in surprise and nearly loosened his grip on Bakugo involuntarily.

"Prez, what's this stage-crasher talking about?" Jiro called from inside the classroom.

Kaminari's arm fell and his fists clenched at his sides.

"Oh?" the blond boy's face seemed in danger of splitting open, "You mean they don't _know_? How long were you planning on waiting before you told them, _Class President_?"

"Mineta's gone." Kaminari stated in a flat tone, "I only found out this morning from Aizawa-sensei. He submitted the paperwork for a formal withdrawal and transferal request over the weekend. I was planning on telling you all after class but, well…" he trailed off and gestured towards the crowd, which had suddenly gone eerily silent.

"Honestly, I thought it might be something like that." Iida said, "He was in a rather bad way after the incident."

"Yeah." Yaoyorozu affirmed, "It was the only explanation that made sense. I won't pretend to be all that torn up about it, but still…"

"It is unfortunate." Iida concluded helpfully.

"Yeah." she agreed, "I can't help but feel for him a little. After all, we were all there. Honestly, to react the way he did is completely reasonable. Maybe it's the rest of us that are unnatural?"

"Perhaps. Even so, I would not wish to see that part of us changed." Iida stated firmly, "It is because we are who we are that we will be able to take these experiences and learn from them. Is that not what school is all about?"

"You're right. Thank you, Iida-san."

"What a touching sentiment." Eijiro was starting to really not like the blond boy, "The heiress and the scion. How quaint. Just imagine how things will be when the public at large figures out who you both are; 1-A will become a veritable trouble magnet! Money, influence, fame, why your class _alone_ could attract such a wide variety of Villains! Will you drag the rest of U.A. down with you when your day of reckoning finally comes?"

"Hey." a new voice cut through the crowd and was revealed to belong to a boy with messy indigo hair that looked like he had played around with an electrical socket one too many times and purple eyes with dark bags underneath them. He was tall, standing only slightly shorter than Iida and his attention was currently focused on the blond boy, "I'm from General Studies and if you want my honest opinion, I'd say that judging from first impressions, 1-B is leaving me a lot more disillusioned than 1-A is. Know what I mean?"

"And just how…" the blond boy started to reply but then his expression went curiously blank.

"Shut up and go away." the newcomer commanded, "The rest of you make a path for him, alright? Thanks."

The previously boisterous boy silently walked off down the hallway just as a booming voice rang out from the opposite direction.

"Hold everything! Cease all hostilities at once!"

All Might was jogging behind Ashido and Midoriya, both of whom were running to stay ahead of him.

"Bakubro," Eijiro spoke in a low voice, "I'm gonna let you go now, so don't do anything stupid, alright?"

"Tch. Who do you think you're talking to, dumbass? Just get off me already."

Eijiro let him go just before All Might made it over to the crowd, which parted before him unprompted.

"Kiri!" Ashido began, "Is everything alright?"

"Kacchan, what's going on?" Midoriya said at nearly the same time.

"Midoriya, my boy. Ashido, my girl. I ask that the pair of you allow me to handle this for now." All Might's characteristic smile was still present, but his tone brooked no argument, "Now, I was led to understand that there was a second party involved in this altercation, but I see no sign of anyone matching the description that I was given. Can anyone explain to me what happened?"

"Oh, uh," the indigo-haired boy was immediately given All Might's full attention, "it looked like the situation was getting a bit out of hand, so I stepped in and convinced him to leave. I was here for most of it and from what I could tell he was deliberately attempting to antagonize, um…" he glanced at Bakugo with a questioning look.

"Katsuki Bakugo." Bakugo said tersely.

"Right. He was deliberately attempting to antagonize Bakugo-san and, unless I'm mistaken, Class 1-A as a whole. He mentioned that he was from Class 1-B, but he never gave his name and I didn't think to ask. My apologies, All Might-sensei."

"No, you did very well, my boy." All Might shook his head and ruffled the boy's messy hair, "You stepped in, took charge and successfully diffused the situation. This is an excellent skill for a Hero to have! What class did you say you were a part of?"

"I'm in General Studies."

"Indeed?" All Might seemed mildly surprised, "Well, let's see you make a good showing at the Sports Festival then, my boy! Who knows what could happen?" the boy nodded and All Might turned his attention to Bakugo.

"Bakugo, my boy, Ashido explained the situation to me and her account aligns perfectly with what I have just been told, so, given the fact that no real damage was done, I will let you off easy this time. In the future, however, I expect you to act with more restraint. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Bakugo said, looking like he had just swallowed something rotten.

"Very good then. I will see you all in class tomorrow!" and with that he took off down the hall the way he had come.

"Is he always so…abrupt?" the messy-haired boy asked.

"More or less. We think it might be a habit from being so busy with Hero Work all the time." Kaminari replied.

"Huh. Well, anyway, time to say what I came here to say." when he received confused looks he raised an eyebrow, "What? Surely you didn't think I showed up just to stop one of you from getting himself expelled? No, I'm here to make sure you all understand what that vacant desk in your classroom means."

Seeing that he had everyone's attention, he continued.

"You guys probably don't give too much thought to it, but I'm sure you're aware that not everyone was as fortunate as you. A lot of us couldn't make the cut for the Hero Course, so we took spots in General Studies and the other tracks in order to bide our time. There's actually quite a few of us, you know?"

Eijiro found himself nodding in understanding along with several others. What this guy was saying made sense, but he was wondering what his point was.

"Well, depending on the results of the Sports Festival, _especially_ since there's a vacant seat now, U.A. will consider transferring us to the Hero Course. As I understand it, the _reverse_ is also possible if you guys don't prove that you deserve to be here. So, on behalf of all of us who haven't given up on our dreams yet, I'm here to offer up a declaration of war. Don't think that you're safe from me just because you're in the Hero Course; I'm coming for you guys and that seat _will_ be mine."

Well, geez.

That was manly as all hell.

"That's a hell of a statement." Kaminari grinned, hands on his hips, "Mind telling us your name, tough guy?"

"Shinso. Hitoshi Shinso."

"Well, Shinso-san," Kaminari ran a hand through his hair in what was clearly supposed to be a "cool-guy" maneuver, "on behalf of 1-A, I accept your challenge as Class President. Let's give it our all!"

"Oh, don't feel pressured or anything." Shinso smirked, "Go easy on me if you want. I'm getting in one way or the other, so why not make this simpler for everyone?"

"Now, now, what kind of showman would I be if I did that?"

"Fair enough."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Man," Ashido sighed as she walked Eijiro to his train station, "we just can't go more than a couple of days without something happening, can we?"

"Yeah," Eijiro agreed, "thank god you were there, Ashido. Because of that things turned out for the better, just like always."

She leaned forwards and gave him a quizzical look.

"What do you mean, Kiri?"

"Well, that's just how it's always been. I stand there like a rock, unable to do anything while you just…get stuff done. That one time that kid was getting bullied in middle school, I tried to step in, you know? That was before I started my training though, so I just got knocked on my ass. Then you showed up outta nowhere and yelled at them. Before I knew it you guys started breakdancing and then they just went home like nothing ever happened." he laughed, thinking back. Had those days really been less than a year ago?

"Hell, you probably don't even remember. You did stuff like that all the time, so you probably just wrote it off as another Tuesday or something. You were just manly like that."

She was giving him an odd look, but said nothing, so he kept going.

"Honestly, I always kind of envied you. I wished that I could stand out as easily as you do and that I had a flashier, more Heroic Quirk. But then that _other_ thing happened. I'm sure you remember this one, right?"

He didn't know when they had stopped, but he was suddenly aware that she was standing in front of him and looking him dead in the eye.

"There were two girls from our middle school that had been cornered by a Villain. He was trying to get directions to Springer's Hero Offices. They didn't' know, of course, but they were too scared to say or do anything. He was getting frustrated and looked like he was about to attack them. I remember looking around, but there weren't any Heroes on patrol. So, it was up to me. I had to do something. I knew that I had to save them, or nobody else would."

Eijiro ran a finger over the scar above his right eye and scratched his head sheepishly.

"…But I couldn't do it. No matter what I tried, my body wouldn't move. All I had to do was jump in and get them out of there, but I was just…too scared. Too weak."

Ashido looked as though she wanted to say something, but he cut her off. Now that he had started, Eijiro _needed_ to finish. He dropped his arm back to his side and smiled at his horn buddy.

"Then you were there, Ashido. You were running so fast that you actually had to skid to a stop in between the Villain and our classmates. You gave him some fake instructions and he just…left. The police showed up after that and got you three out of there and the whole time, all I could do was stand there and ask myself why I couldn't move. I always talked a big game. I kept going on and on about 'manly spirit' and having a 'manly heart,' but in the end, when the chips were down, I was all talk. Forget being a Hero, I wasn't even a man."

Eijiro remembered how close he had come to giving up. He had almost not been able to work up the nerve to apply to U.A. after that, but he had accidentally activated an old holo-recording of an interview with Crimson Riot that his parents had bought for him when he was little.

" _In comparison to other Heroes, your image as a 'reckless' Hero who rushes in headlong is quite prominent. May I ask, do you feel no fear over throwing yourself into harm's way?"_

" _Huh? Just what do you think I am?! Of_ course, _I feel fear! Anybody who rushes into the jaws of death without feeling any fear is either a complete dumbass or a *_ _ **BEEP**_ _*! Back when I was a Sidekick, there were times when I wasn't able to save people's lives, you know?"_

" _Ah, yes. It can't be helped, sadly. With crime rates on the rise, there's nothing that-"_

" _That ain't what I'm saying! I'm saying that I hesitated for a second. My heart was weak, so I couldn't save 'em. Villains and death itself are both terrifying! Of course they are! It's just that I know there's something even_ scarier _than all of that: the final expressions on the faces of the dead and the torment that comes from not being able to save them. It's_ because _I've felt these things that I charge into the fray!"_

" _You like to talk about having a 'manly spirit,' but what exactly does that mean to you?"_

" _What kind of question is that?! It's the attitude you carry with you in your_ soul _! I may say 'manly,' but it goes for any gender! And it doesn't mean something about being confident or not feeling fear either! I save people 'cuz I'm a Hero! Once you've made that decision in your heart, then you need to stake your life on it! A 'manly heart,' to me, is a life led without regret!"_

"I made up my mind then and there that I wouldn't make the same mistake again, so I found those girls and I apologized to them for not being able to do anything. Of course, they didn't hold it against me. You know what they said? 'It's totally fine. Anybody would be afraid in a situation like that. Mina's just amazing, that's all.'"

Suddenly self-conscious, Eijiro thumped his fist on his thigh a couple of times and looked away.

"Listen to me rambling. Like I said, you probably don't remember any of this except for that one incident. The point is that I have to struggle and fight for what just comes naturally to you. Eventually I realized that it wasn't your Quirk or your looks that I wanted, it was just…to be more _like_ you, I guess."

"You're wrong." a pink hand touched his cheek and turned his head so he was looking at her again and he was surprised to see the fierceness shining in her yellow-on-black eyes, "Don't think for a moment that I'm not scared, Kiri. After I gave that Villain fake directions and he walked away, I fell to the ground and cried my eyes out along with my friends because I was just as scared as they were. If I seem brave it's only because my body moves before my brain has time to catch up and…" she lowered her eyes, "we've seen what that gets me, haven't we? Trust me, Kiri, all your situation means is that you're smarter than me. I know you'd never have made such a stupid mistake at such an important moment if you were in my place."

Her hand fell from his face, but the self-loathing that had made its way into her voice made him instinctively catch it in his own. It was all too familiar and he was an idiot to think that she had gotten over USJ so quickly when she had some of the heaviest baggage from it. He frantically searched for words, but it was his turn to be cut off by her.

"The difference between you and me, Kiri, is that you've changed. You've gotten so much closer to being who you've always wanted to be. Hell, you even dyed your hair! I remember how surprised I was when I saw you last Sunday on the way to the first day of class!" she giggled and for a moment Eijiro thought she might have gotten over it on her own, but then her expression fell again.

"Me, though? I'm the same person that I've always been. I don't have it in me to change. Sure, things might work out for me sometimes, but look at what happens when they _don't_. _You_ , though? You get knocked down and you just get right back up. You stand up and face yourself, unbent and unbroken and then you break right through whatever's in your way."

She looked back up at him and Eijiro realized that he had gotten a few inches taller than her at some point. She usually stood with her feet spread apart and her shoulders back, emanating the confidence and energy that defined her as a person. Now, though, with her eyes shining and one arm across her stomach, she looked so much smaller than usual. Almost vulnerable.

"Kiri…" she sounded so…defeated. It was almost worse than when she was yelling and crying and blaming herself. At least then she had shown some sort of passion. This was just…wrong, "…you are so much stronger than I will ever be. So, please, don't talk about yourself that way."

"You idiot." he pulled on her hand, forcing her closer to him and used his free hand to pull her head onto his shoulder, "I told you already, remember? When you're involved everything always works out in the end. With the bullies, they all walked away as friends. With the Villain, we all walked away safely. With USJ, sure, two of the Villains escaped, but they captured like, what, seventy more? Add to that the fact that nobody except Aizawa-sensei and Midoriya were hurt all that badly and I'd say that not only did it all turn out alright, it was a freaking miracle!"

He felt her pull her hand out of his own and for a moment he wondered if she was going to shove him away, but then she wrapped her arms around his chest and held him tightly.

"So, you see," Eijiro said, choosing to ignore the damp feeling on his shoulder as he brought his now-free right arm up to rest on the small of her back, "you don't have anything to worry about. As long as you're around, it'll all work out in the end, so you don't need to change a thing. You just need to keep being Mina Ashido: the girl with more energy than she knows what to do with and a smile that lights up the whole room."

"If I do that, then do you promise to keep being Eijiro Kirishima: the guy with more manliness in his thumb than most people have in their entire bodies and who has a way with words that really isn't fair given that he looks like a hood?" her voice was slightly muffled, but he caught it just fine and chuckled as he tightened his grip on her a little.

"You've got yourself a deal."

"I want to add one condition."

"Uh-oh."

She took her arms from around his back and placed them on his shoulders so she could look at him properly, wiping her eyes as she did so.

"You need to call me 'Mina' from now on."

That got a sharp-toothed smile out of him.

"Fair enough, Mina. You can call me 'Eijiro' in that case."

"Hmm…" she pouted at him, "I don't know if I wanna. That doesn't roll off the tongue like 'Kiri' does."

"Well, a couple of my buddies back in middle school used to call me 'Ei.'

"Ei, huh?" she considered this for a moment before suddenly grinning widely, "Hey, Ei! Heyeieieieieieiei~"

"Pfft! You're such a goof!"

"Hey, _you're_ the one who told me not to change, remember? No take-backsies!"

"You drive a hard bargain, you know that?"

"Tough. You're stuck with me. Now don't you have a train to catch?"

He did, in fact, have a train to catch.

"Crap! Gotta go! See you tomorrow!"

"Oh, and Ei?"

"Huh?"

"That thing with the bullies…I do remember. In fact, I stepped in because I thought you looked really cool trying to stand up for the other kid like that." with a wink and a wave, she was gone.

… _Goddamn._

This was the overriding thought in Eijiro's head as he just barely made it onto the train in time and sat in his usual spot.

… _Goddamn!_

That whole time? She knew who he was the whole time? And she thought he was cool?

… _GodDAMN!_

She thought he had more manliness in his thumb than most people had in their whole body?!

… _GODDAMN!_

She also thought he looked like a hood.

… _Goddamn._

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The next morning, Aizawa made a class-wide announcement regarding Fight Club since every student in the class had signed up for it. Bakugo had apparently left the paper on his desk the previous day.

"So, you kids' new club has been officially approved by Principal Nezu."

"Huh?!" Eijiro couldn't help himself, "Man, that was fast!" the class in general seemed to agree with this sentiment, so Aizawa rolled his eyes and elaborated.

"Look a gift horse in the mouth, why don't you. Apparently, a certain over-enthusiastic radio host came looking for me, saw the paper on my desk and ran it straight over to Nezu's office. From what I understand, he just shoved the paper into his face and said 'please' over and over again until the principal told him to shut up. Little did he know that I had already informed Nezu of what was going on. Given the nature of the club, it was only logical that I get his approval before it had the chance to go too far. Now everyone settle down so we can get started with class."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

It was in this way that everyone once again found themselves hanging around after class that day for the first unofficial meeting of Fight Club. Eijiro, for one, could hardly contain himself. He had thought that this would take at least a few days so it was almost like Christmas had come early.

"Alright, everyone shut the hell up!" Bakugo barked from where he was sitting on Aizawa's desk, "We're not about to start beating the hell out of each other in the middle of the classroom, so keep it in your pants. I'm looking at _you_ , Kirishima!"

Eijiro laughed and flipped him off, earning a stern look from Iida and a slap on the back of the head from Asui's tongue.

"Anyway," Bakugo continued as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, "the reason I've called all of you dipshits here today is that we have some shit that we need to figure out before we can get to the fun part. Logistics and all that shit. As the head of the club, it is within my rights to delegate this sort of shit to whomever I damn well please, so let's have some volunteers. Who likes dealing with details and other miscellaneous bullshit?"

Iida and Yaoyorozu raised their hands at nearly the same time.

"Fine. You can both do it. By the power vested in me as the guy whose idea this was, I hereby declare that Iida and…" Midoriya, who had apparently been standing next to him for just this purpose, whispered something into his ear, "I hereby declare that Iida and Yaoyorozu are to be in charge of any and all logistical matters pertaining to Fight Club. I also declare that everybody is forbidden from calling it 'Fight Club' outside of official meetings, because everyone knows that the first rule of Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club. If anyone has any objections to these declarations, speak now and subsequently prostrate yourself before me and beg for my forgiveness."

" **I like this guy. Can I just say that I like this guy?"** Dark Shadow was taking advantage of the currently-empty desk next to Tokoyami's and was hovering over it, pretending to be a student.

"Butter me up all you like, Birdman, but you're still a Quirk and are therefore not allowed to participate in club activities."

" **I'll find a loophole, just you wait!"**

"Anyway, since Iida and Yaoyorozu are now in charge of logistics, your first job is to figure out the where and when of our regular meetings. Go."

Since they sat on opposite sides of the room, Iida took it upon himself to walk over to the corner by the window where Yaoyorozu sat.

"Well," Yaoyorozu began, "we would probably have an easier time getting everyone together after class, rather than before. Does anyone disagree with that?"

There was some general buzz as people thought out loud, but nobody spoke out against this suggestion until Mina reached across the aisle and shook Eijiro's shoulder.

"Kiri, what about your train?" she had decided to only call him "Ei" outside of class for the moment, which he was honestly thankful for.

"If it's just once or twice a week, then it's fine. I'll just stick around longer until the next one comes. At least I'll be doing something constructive, right?" she smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Very good. Then the appointed time will be after class and we shall start with one meeting per week until such time as we decide that a different level of frequency is appropriate." Iida adjusted his glasses from where he stood next to Yaoyorozu, "In the spirit of getting things going, I would like to suggest Wednesdays for the time being, so that we might have our first meeting tomorrow. Does anyone object to this?"

Nobody did. If anything, people seemed to be actively supporting the idea of starting immediately. Iida smiled, obviously gratified by the reception of his suggestion.

"Alright." Yaoyorozu jotted down some quick notes on a piece of paper that she had generated from her forearm, "So the only other question for the time being is where we should hold our meetings. It would have to be somewhere large enough to accommodate multiple simultaneous matches."

"Don't forget that it has to be hidden!" Ojiro added.

"Yeah," Sato agreed, "that's important. It should be somewhere out of the way."

"I'm afraid I don't understand." a puzzled Yaoyorozu scanned the room, seeing that every male in the room was nodding their head except for Koda, whose place was taken by Jiro in this regard, "Why does it have to be somewhere hidden?"

"Ah, Yaomomo," Sero crossed his long arms and nodded his head sagely, "you just don't get it, I'm afraid. Yo, Bakugo, permission to break rule number one for the purposes of explanation?"

"I'll allow it." Bakugo gestured grandiosely from his perch on top of Aizawa's desk, "But one time only." Sero gave him an overexaggerated nod in return before returning his attention to Yaoyorozu, who was looking more confused by the second.

"You see, Yaomomo, the essence of Fight Club lies not only in the matches that take place, but in the _atmosphere_ that's involved with them! The ideal place would be something like an abandoned warehouse or a subway station that isn't in service anymore."

"Ooh, or a prison!" Jiro opined, "Something on an island that's all old and run-down with rusty pipes everywhere! That'd be Metal as hell!"

"How about an abandoned parking structure?" Kaminari suggested to general acceptance. Eijiro noticed that Midoriya and Uraraka shared a conspiratorial grin when he mentioned this, but decided to ignore it in favor of his own suggestion.

"How about an abandoned boxing gym? That'd be really appropriate."

"Is anyone else noticing a theme here?" Mina asked.

"Ribbit. Everything's abandoned." Asui confirmed.

"I'm afraid that we'll be hard-pressed to find something of this nature on-campus." Iida said thoughtfully, "After all, this _is_ still a school-sponsored club and should therefore take place _at_ school."

"Um, what about Ground Beta?" Midoriya suggested, "You know, the place where we had the Battle Trials. It's a scale model of a city, so we should be able to find somewhere appropriate, and there's not usually anybody there when it's not being used or repaired, so…it's _arguably_ abandoned?" he shrugged and held up his hands.

There was a moment of silence as everyone considered this. It was, after all, the first real suggestion that had been given.

"Alright." Bakugo set off a small explosion to bring attention back to him before interrupting himself mid-thought, "Hang on, that's lame. Yaoyorozu, could you make me a gavel?"

"You want a powdered wig with that?" she rolled her eyes at his theatrics but complied with his request nevertheless, pulling the small wooden hammer from her thigh along with a sound block for him to hit with it.

"Sweet."

* **WHACK** *

"I hereby call a vote on Deku's suggestion of using Ground Beta as our regular meeting place, with the specific location therein to be determined at a later point. All in favor say 'aye.'"

The vast majority of the class said "aye."

"All opposed, suck my dick."

Nobody took him up on this offer.

"The ayes have it. I hereby declare Ground Beta to be our official meeting place until further notice. This is to take place on Wednesdays after class. The exact duration of each meeting and the precise location within Ground Beta is to be determined."

* **WHACK** *

Suddenly, Eijiro found himself incredibly jealous of the gavel. He knew what he would be doing if he ever found himself alone at the meeting site.

 _Hey, if I break it I can just feed Yaomomo a cinnamon roll or something and ask her to make another one. That's how her Quirk works, right?_

Plus Gavel.

* * *

 **Alternate chapter titles include "Plus Gavel" "All Opposed, Suck My Dick" and "Heeere's Monoma!"**

 **This chapter really did flow a lot easier and I'm sure a part of that is due to the fact that I actually had time to write down notes this week! I am once again in possession of notes that lead me at least a chapter or two into the future. It really shows too since not only is this chapter longer than 21, but it only took me about eight hours of work instead of, like, twelve.**

 **I really do have fun showing the characters having fun. I also have fun writing long-winded speeches, particularly of the Villainous/antagonistic variety. Consequently, the beginning and end of this chapter flowed like water.**

 **Next time we'll get to the first official meeting of Fight Club! Hope to see you there!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	23. Chapter 23: Hypocrisy

**EDIT: Some of you have pointed out a typo where I accidentally swapped Kirishima and Kaminari's names. This has been fixed. Thank you for looking out!**

 **Well, the reviews are flooding in! We just broke the 400 review mark AND the 700 favorites mark! This is phenomenal.**

 **Review time:**

 **Renlu, the_narr_master, bhennen, origamishishou, Lightningblade49, Jack Inqu, Humming Brook : I'm glad to see people so excited for Fight Club and hopefully this chapter scratches that itch a little. It should also answer the question about more potential members (the answer is "yes").**

 **NPGamer11, Engineer of Epicness, ILiekFishes, ShiningStar32, FaeryMage, AshSeekethEmbers : Good to know I hit it out of the park with the "all opposed" joke. When in doubt, I guess just have Katsuki proposition everyone in the immediate vicinity XD**

 **Renlu, Mrguy22594, The 0bservanc3, Jack Inqu : It's nice to see people reacting strongly to Monoma. Rest assured that, as with every character I give extended screentime to, I will be doing more with him in the future and there is more to him than you might think. Also, Kendo was elsewhere because I needed her to be elsewhere. The integrity of the antagonistic monologue must be preserved!**

 **Renlu, Dark Murcielago, ShiningStar32, UnholyTomahawk, Guest, Jack Inqu : That KirixMina scene was completely unplanned. It was originally supposed to be something different but then it just kind of...happened. Frankly, I'm glad it did.**

 **NPGamer11:** **I have not yet nailed down the events of the Sports Festival, so it is entirely possible. We'll have to see if Monoma makes it to the final event.**

 **Renlu: Eh, it's kinda new. I think we've only seen his POV once before during the Battle Trial. I think it's pretty obvious to most people by this point that I plan on having Shinso get promoted, as it were, so I feel comfortable confirming that you are correct.**

 **Alexzander95: The funny thing was I _did_ know of Viridescent, I just didn't know that it was about a fire Quirk. I have since read it and it does a lot of things that I enjoy. Also some that I don't, but it's really started to pick up in the more recent chapters. It is indeed the MHA fic with the highest number of favs, follows and reviews on the site. I guess that's what we're aiming to catch up to, huh? Wonder how that'll work out.**

 **MalumAnima: You know, it's funny that you mention this because it actually gets addressed this chapter. Good foresight!**

 **the_narr_master: Thank you! I definitely try to portray all of my characters that way, but I'm sure I'm more successful with some than others. Ochako was indeed there (pretty much all of 1A was) but I wanted to keep the scene on-track and she'll be getting tons of screentime as it is. Also...I think I'm going to have her keep that little tidbit a secret for now. Honestly, she and Izuku are the only two who know about that. He stopped breathing, but I'm not sure if his heart stopped or not. It might have. This chapter will indeed have more gavel.**

 **Reverseflash: I did read Viridescent this past week and you are quite correct about it being the MHA fic on the site with the biggest numbers. Izuku can indeed use Flame Magnet independently from One For All as well as in conjunction with it. This will actually be a very important fact later on. Not completely sure I understand what you mean about the blue fire, unless you just mean that it's the only fire around so he'll have to eat it in which case you would be correct.**

 **Engineer of Epicness:** **Ah, gotcha. That would indeed be a useful maneuver, particularly with Uraraka making him weightless first so he flies faster and further. Imagine how terrifying it would be to have Red Riot: Unbreakable flying full-speed at your face. I'm not sure if it would be advisable to launch Denki or Mina though, since they might have difficulty surviving the impact. Mina might be able to soften the landing with her acid, but still.**

 **Dark Murcielago: I definitely make an effort to share the spotlight. There's so many interesting things to be seen that way. I too am fond of AU fics that incorporate canon but expand on it. Probably an obvious statement, since I'm writing one, but still. I'm not a fan of OC-centric fics, unfortunately, mainly for the reasons you outlined here. I don't mind OC's being present, but I don't like them to be the main focus.**

 **The 0bservanc3: We do not know precisely what Crimson Riot's Quirk was other than that it seems to be some sort of hardening or reinforcement Quirk. In my fic, the kids actually _did_ wait until after classes were over. Just made sense. I touch on Monoma higher up in the A/N, but in his defense, he doesn't actually know about Izuku almost dying. In fact, only Izuku and Ochako know just how close it really was. I do believe that he has a limit to how far he will take something and near-death certainly crosses it.**

 **Eijiro and Mina did go to the same middle school, but they were not all that close. You are correct that the use of first names is significant in Japanese society. To use someone's first name signifies a certain degree of closeness with that individual. Some people are more free about it than others (looking at you, Tsuyu) but in general, it's kind of a big deal. As for Shinso's declaration of war, he's not just doing it for himself, but on behalf of everyone who isn't in the Hero Course. I think that he's also low-key trying to give the Hero Course students a bit of a kick in the ass to make sure they don't get overconfident. He just strikes me as being honorable like that.**

 **UnholyTomahawk: No worries, you don't owe me anything. I'm just happy that you're enjoying the fic! Character interactions and relationships are what I pride myself on, so it's great to know that they're working well for you. As for your Izuku moveset, I'd say replace Dynamic Punch with Heat Wave and Focus Punch with...idk, Blaze Kick or Blast Burn maybe? His Fighting typing is debatable, since all of his best moves inherently use fire. I'm glad that my Uraraka is better than you usually see, or at least doesn't detract from the story for you.**

 **AzureFan2: I think it's fair to say that we will be seeing a lot more of Shinso.**

 **MIKE202303, Sentinel07: Thank you both so much for the review injections! I'm immensely pleased that you are enjoying the fic and hope for your continued support!**

 **Twain apprentice: I'm hyped for it! Haven't had the chance to watch the episode since I've been working on the chapter all day, but I will. I certainly intend to change things up at the Sports Festival, though the tournament will remain as the third event, albeit with different matchups. As for Blood Brothers, I know absolutely nothing about it and have never read it. I'll look it up!**

 **WarriorUnseen, Hybrid of Fate, uchihaNaruto247, Ezylryb, grahamgarrett_powerofanime, bigdogneversleeps, Ignis11 and everyone else: Thank you for your support and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, the moment that many of you have been waiting for...MORE IIDA! And Fight Club!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three: Hypocrisy

The time was upon them.

The moment of reckoning was at hand.

Everything had been building up to this.

Other situationally-appropriate and suitably heavy-sounding cliché declarations that Tenya Iida was currently unable to think of due to the fact that he was busy setting everything up before everyone else was due to arrive.

It was a well-known fact that Tenya was the diligent type and while some people occasionally made fun of him for it, he wore it as a badge of honor. He had a legacy to uphold and that meant knowing how to take things seriously. This went double for things that involved other people depending on him, such as Heroics or being assigned a critical position in a student organization which stood to serve as the source of much improvement, entertainment and bonding with his fellow students.

So it was that Tenya had decided to take the initiative. After the previous day's meeting had been dismissed, he had made his way to Ground Beta alone in order to scout out an appropriate location. He had eventually happened upon exactly what the doctor ordered: an open space that branched off of an underground passage that seemingly formed a network between several buildings in the area.

 _My word…exactly how in-depth did they make these simulations? Still, I suppose I should be grateful; this is absolutely perfect!_

Tenya knew that there was a strong possibility that the hunt for an appropriate arena, as it were, had the potential to take up a large portion of the first meeting, especially given some of the… ***ahem*** … _strong_ personalities they had in the group. Besides, organization was the responsibility that was given to him and Yaoyorozu, so it was only right that he would, well, take responsibility for it.

He had considered asking Yaoyorozu to come with him, but decided against it for the reason that there was, potentially, a lot of ground to cover and speed was kind of his thing. It was important to be efficient with these sorts of things, even if he _would_ have enjoyed the company. She certainly seemed like an intelligent and well-mannered girl and he had no doubt that interacting with her would be refreshing for him.

After all, excellent and powerful though his companions were, they were still brought up very differently from those he was used to interacting with and he occasionally found it taxing to "dial it back" as the case may be. This was one thing that he envied in his female counterpart: she seemed to have no trouble blending in with everyone while he always seemed to stand out from the crowd because of his mannerisms.

Tenya did not for a moment _regret_ the way he was; he had a great amount of pride in the man that he had been raised to be. It just felt that, sometimes, there was a sort of wall between him and his classmates which prevented him from completely embracing their humor and revelry as his own.

A good way, then, to reaffirm their faith in him as a team player and someone who wished to have a part to play in their community would be to perform his duties in an exemplary manner which, in his humble opinion, he had succeeded in doing as his classmates began to file into the underground arena with various looks of wonder and intrigue on their faces.

"Iida-san," Yaoyorozu made a beeline for him immediately upon entering, "how did you find this place? And when did you have the time?"

An apt question. He had arrived at the classroom rather later than usual that morning due to having to drop off his last-minute purchase and had only had time to inform her that he had located suitable premises.

"Well, Yaoyorozu-san, I must admit that luck was on my side. I located one of the passages leading here in only the fourth building that I decided to search. As for when, I began my search directly after the meeting yesterday. I apologize sincerely for not informing you sooner, but you see, I had some last-minute business to take care of here this morning." by way of explanation, he gestured towards the large, mobile whiteboard that he had purchased and assembled that morning.

"You know, I could have made one for you, Iida-san. You didn't have to spend your own money on something like this, especially after you put so much effort into searching Ground Beta all on your own." she rubbed her arm, looking rather put-out, "In fact, I almost wish that you had asked me to do that. Now I don't really feel as though I've done my share."

"Nonsense!" Tenya was shocked that she would feel this way and emphasized this with a swipe of his arm, "I would never dream of making such onerous demands of you, Yaoyorozu-san!"

"It's hardly onerous!" she protested, "If anything, it's practical and cost-effective! The food that I'd have to consume to replace the fat that would be used in the process would cost far less than the product itself, Iida-san. Besides, apart from that you had to transport it to campus, carry it down here and assemble it all by yourself! Not to mention that in our meeting yesterday, you ended up being far more in-tune with the proceedings than I was."

Tenya had not expected her to react like this and had to think quickly.

"Honestly…I didn't want to objectify you." he took off his glasses and kneaded the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, "Individuals with such incredibly useful Quirks as yours are often taken for granted and I can tell that you are a very selfless girl who would not hesitate to give of herself, quite literally, for the benefit of her peers and rightly so. However," here he pushed his glasses back up with a finger, "I believe that overindulging in this would breed complacency and over-reliance on your Quirk for simple, everyday tasks. This is all well and good for you; Creation is _your_ Quirk and it is within your rights to use it however you see fit, but it would pain me to see you reduced to a glorified object dispenser. You deserve better than that."

She stared at him with her mouth slightly open, apparently lost for words.

"For what it is worth," Tenya concluded, "I apologize for doing the lion's share of the talking yesterday. I fear that I was rather…overexcited. I suppose one of the hazards of moving ahead at full speed can be the occasional bit of tunnel vision."

What he had not expected was for Yaoyorozu to cover her mouth to muffle a sudden case of the giggles.

"I'm sorry!" she choked out, waving a frantic hand in front of her, "That was just so unexpected and sweet and thoughtful and just…so completely in-character for you, Iida-san! Although," she took a steadying breath, though her smile remained, "I think that the tunnel-vision might just be part of being a man; it's in your nature to go after the things you want, right? Maybe it's just more pronounced for you."

"Do you think so?" Tenya rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I don't suppose we should seek out Kirishima-san for a second opinion? He seems to be our resident expert on all things manly. I am afraid that I never really saw myself as such."

"I heard my name followed by the word 'manly.'" Kirishima had seemingly materialized out of nowhere, "What can I do you for?"

"Iida-san was saying that he doesn't really think of himself as being overly 'manly.'" Yaoyorozu responded.

"What?!" Kirishima immediately put Tenya in a headlock, forcing him to bend over slightly due to their height difference, "Iida. My man. You found this place all on your own, you volunteered to do a bunch of organizational stuff that most people wouldn't want to do, with Yaomomo's help of course," he offered the girl in question a quick nod, which she returned, "and you kicked enough ass in the entrance exams to make the top ten. You MORE than qualify as manly in my book!"

"Plus," Hagakure chimed in from where she had apparently been standing on the other side of the whiteboard, "that speech you just gave was top-notch lady-killer material. For real."

Tenya proceeded to flail his arms in a desperate attempt to regain some semblance of control over the situation, though his words failed him.

"Anyway, Iida?" Hagakure said, heedless of the situation she had just contributed to, "I was trying to draw a bunny but I need a red marker for the nose and could only find this black one. Do you have any others?"

"…Ah." Tenya _knew_ that he had forgotten something. He straightened up, Kirishima having released him from his headlock, and turned to Yaoyorozu, who was smirking expectantly at him.

"Yaoyorozu-san, it would appear as though I neglected to purchase additional markers after realizing that the whiteboard only came with a black one. If you truly do not mind, then could I impose upon you to produce two or three others?"

She made a show of thinking about it before slapping him playfully on the arm.

"Of course I can make some, Iida-san. After all, this isn't just a 'simple, everyday task,' right?"

Well, he had walked right into that one.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was leaning against a cement wall, the upper half of his body shrouded in shadows that the meager lighting of their underground arena was not powerful enough to pierce. A sharp clicking sound emanated from where Deku was crouching slightly in front of him and to the side. He was rhythmically opening his lighter before snapping it shut with a flick of his wrist while eyeing the group gathered before him with a detached expression that promised violence at the slightest provocation. Kirishima was located on his other side, arms crossed and shark-like teeth bared in a grin that simply screamed "go ahead, make my day."

In short, Katsuki looked as intimidating as possible with only a minute or two of prep time. It was important to set the tone for something like this, after all.

Plus, it made him feel like even more of a badass than usual. As much as he wanted to bask in the moment a bit more, Katsuki knew that the time had come.

"I'd like to start by congratulating you all on finding our little sanctuary. I honestly didn't think that so many would succeed. Whether this is fate or because you all just got lucky remains to be seen."

With a sharp movement of Deku's arm and a flick of his thumb, a small flame sparked into being roughly level with Katsuki's chest, causing his features to be revealed with the flickering, menacing shadows playing across his grin.

"Welcome to Fight Club."

This declaration was met with various exclamations of excitement and approval from his audience.

"Kirishima."

The redhead in question immediately knelt in front of Katsuki and activated his Hardening as Katsuki proceeded to set a familiar sound block on his back and strike it with his gavel.

* **WHACK** *

"Keep it in your pants! I'm not done here!"

Silence was restored immediately and Kirishima stood back up, resuming his previous position as though nothing unusual had occurred.

"Now, as much as I'm sure we're all chomping at the bit to start kicking the shit out of each other, this is an organization. As such, we have these things called _rules_. We also, as our name suggests, have at least some semblance of _organization_. Now, I will be the first to admit that this is my least-favorite part of the whole thing, which is why I appointed two other people to handle it for me. Turn to the side and look at them for a while."

The crowd obliged and turned to face the new whiteboard which had Iida standing on one side and Yaoyorozu on the other.

"Yes, well," Iida began, seemingly flustered at the sudden change of attention, "as we are basing this club off of the no-Quirk sparring that we are doing as a part of Hero Training, as well as to aid in general organization of participants, we have decided to adopt the ranking system from the class, such as it is." he gestured to Yaoyorozu, who had just finished dividing the lower half of the board into three rows. They were labeled "High," "Mid" and "Low" respectively.

"As you can see, we are not pulling any punches with our ranking system, pun intended." she stated, "This is designed to be an objective label for each individual's current level of combat effectiveness sans their Quirks. It is not designed to reflect their overall potential as a Hero or anything else of that sort, so don't let it get you down if you end up in low-tier. Without further ado, we will describe everyone's ranking. Iida-san, would you be so kind as to start?"

"Gladly." Iida folded his arms behind his back and threw out his chest, "We shall address this in seating order. Firstly, we have Aoyama-san in low-tier. He has demonstrated a lack of close-combat experience and slightly below-average physical abilities overall. We understand that he is a primarily a long-range type, but that has no bearing in what we do here."

"Ah, c'est la vie." Aoyama raised his arms slightly in a "what can you do" type of gesture, "T'would be unfair if I was equally gifted in all things. Perfection would be boring, non? This gives me something to strive for!"

"Next in line we have Ashido-san." Yaoyorozu continued as she finished writing Aoyama's name in the bottom row, "This was something of a point of contention between us, especially given the fact that she firmly lead the middle of the pack during in-class exercises. In the end, we decided that much of her ability is due to her natural athleticism and superb reflexes, rather than any true skill in combat per-se, which means that she is mid-tier. Feel free to prove us wrong."

"Dang! So close!" Ashido grimaced, "Oh, well. I'll be up there with the heavy-hitters soon enough! Just you wait!"

"Next we have Asui-san." Iida began before he was interrupted.

"Call me Tsuyu."

"As this is an official proceeding, we will adhere to professional standards."

"Ribbit."

"Right," Iida took a moment to regain his thoughts, "as I was saying, as a Mutant-type, Asui-san is in the unique position of not being able to turn her Quirk off. Rather, she will simply have to refrain from using certain aspects of it, such as her tongue. Even so, this does give her a distinct physical advantage and the skills she displayed during in-class training were not bad. As such we have decided to place her in mid-tier." the Frog girl nodded in acceptance, having nothing additional to add.

"Next we have Iida-san here," Yaoyorozu gestured to him as though presenting him to the crowd, "he demonstrated a considerable amount of skill with kicks and a good amount of speed even without his Quirk. Now, as it is impossible for a consensus to be reached with only a single opinion, I also ran this by Bakugo-san."

"Yeah, Iida's alright." Katsuki waved his hand lazily, "I approve his placement in high-tier. Kirishima."

* **WHACK** *

"Thank you, Bakugo-san, Yaoyorozu-san. I appreciate your kind words." Iida bowed to both of them in turn, "I shall endeavor not to rest on these laurels, but to aim ever higher." he straightened up, "Now, to continue, next is Uraraka-san. From what we saw in class, in spite of her nature as a close-range fighter, her reliance on her Quirk is apparent. While it does give her a very high level of versatility, she is unable to make use of it here. Therefore, we have decided to place her in low-tier."

"Eheheh." Uraraka rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly and angled her gaze towards the floor, "Yeah, that's fair. Teamwork has always been my specialty moreso than one-on-one fighting, especially if you take away my Quirk. I've got some work to do, huh?"

"Now, our next member is something of a special case," Yaoyorozu stated, drawing a small box on top of the high-tier row, "Ojiro-san demonstrated a level of skill and effectiveness which, quite frankly, was unmatched by anybody else in this room. As such, we have decided to place him in his own category: top-tier. If he is agreeable, then please seek him out for guidance."

"You honor me." Ojiro bowed to the pair, "I shall strive to improve both myself and everyone else here."

"Right, that reminds me," Katsuki cut in, "since he's objectively the best judge of actual skill here, being at the top of the heap himself, he'll get final say as to whether or not someone deserves to change tiers, be that upwards or downwards. He's also unbiased and shit."

"I accept this duty and thank you for your praise, Bakugo-san."

"Bitch, did that _sound_ like a request? Kirishima."

* **WHACK** *

"Methinks you're abusing your power a little bit, dude." Kirishima piped up.

"We shall address that if it becomes an issue." Iida kept things moving, "Honestly, Kaminari-san was another point of contention. Similarly to how Ashido-san was at the top of the middle in class, he was at the bottom. His physical conditioning is clearly fine, but he seems to have an obsession with making his moves as flashy as possible, regardless of their overall effectiveness. This resulted in many openings which were taken advantage of by opponents savvier than himself. As such, the decision has been made to place him in low-tier. We are certain that his abilities exceed this, but he has yet to demonstrate this in a sanctioned match."

"…Ouch." Kaminari scratched his cheek, "Well, nothing else for it then. Guess I better step up my game. We can't have the Class President in bottom-tier, after all."

"Next we have Kirishima-san," Yaoyorozu said, "he has demonstrated a high level of durability and strength, but his lack of speed and overall brawler style leaves him at a disadvantage against a skilled opponent. As such, he is placed firmly in mid-tier."

"Makes sense. Bakubro took me apart when we sparred, but I did alright in general after that." Kirishima nodded from his position next to Katsuki, accepting his judgement.

"Koda-san," Iida addressed the quite boy, who looked nervous, "obviously has much more potential than he displayed in class. His position on this list reflects his passive nature and the struggle he faces when it comes to inflicting harm. It is difficult to gauge his actual skill level, but this is a moot point anyway if he cannot bring himself to use it. Low-tier." there was, predictably, no response to this save for a nod of Koda's large head.

"Sato-san is another fairly clear-cut case," Yaoyorozu stated confidently, "his raw power makes him perfectly capable of overwhelming lesser opponents, especially when paired with his size, but his speed and technique are lacking against more skilled fighters. He is solidly in mid-tier."

"That's fair." Sato nodded, "I've never put that much focus into learning how to really fight, so this'll be a good opportunity to fix that. Can't always rely on brute strength, right?"

"Next we have Shoji-san." Iida continued, "He is another case of a mutant-type Quirk granting him a large advantage in the form of his extra limbs. What is more, however, is the raw physical power he possesses in addition to his ability to leverage his attributes in close-quarters. It is the rare opponent who will be able to resist being overwhelmed by him in a straight fight. It only makes sense, therefore, to place him in high-tier."

"You have my thanks." Shoji inclined his elongated head, "I will strive to improve and vindicate this decision."

"Jiro-san is up next." Yaoyorozu kept going after adding the second name to the high-tier list, "She has demonstrated nimble movements and a penchant for sharp, precision strikes, though her power and durability seem to be lacking somewhat. Still, she is a good candidate for mid-tier."

"Not my fault I'm petite." Jiro stuck her tongue out at Yaoyorozu, but there was no venom behind her words.

"Sero-san has shown a good amount of speed and is clearly able to take advantage of his long reach." Iida proceeded, "His technique is also serviceable, though his power leaves something to be desired. He, too, is in mid-tier."

"Heh. Yeah, that sounds about right." Sero grinned his toothy grin, "My Tape is really handy for supplementing that, but I guess it'll be interesting to try and go without."

"Next is Tokoyami-san and…" Yaoyorozu hesitated for a moment, searching for the right words, "well, his inexperience in close combat is obvious. It is plain that he, in a similar vein as Aoyama-san, prefers to keep his distance and let his Quirk do the work. Given the nature of his Quirk, this is not necessarily a bad idea, but again, that is not what we do here. Low-tier."

"Your analysis is not wrong." Tokoyami acknowledged.

" **Oh, come on!"** Dark Shadow complained, **"At least put** _ **me**_ **in high-tier! You know I belong there! If you let me fight I would kick** _ **so**_ **much ass!"**

"Kirishima."

* **WHACK** *

"We've been through this already, Birdman! You are a Quirk and therefore not considered an active participant, now quit it!" it wasn't as though Katsuki didn't understand Dark Shadow's desire to fight, but rules were rules and breaking _these_ rules could result in their club being disbanded.

No thank you. He hadn't even gotten to fight anyone yet!

"Now, on to Todoroki-san." Yaoyorozu kept the proceedings moving along, "Judging from his performance in class, he has clearly received some form of formal training. His physical conditioning and level-headedness under pressure only serve to cement his spot in high-tier."

"Wow, Todo!" Todoroki said nothing, but Hagakure was more than happy to react in his place, "Who knew you were that strong even _without_ your Quirk! You're so unassuming sometimes that it comes as a surprise, you know?"

"Such abilities are fundamental." Todoroki responded, "It only makes sense for any aspiring Hero to be trained in such a way."

"Still, though!"

"Your enthusiasm is well-placed, Hagakure-san, for it is now _your_ turn." Iida pointed out, "Hagakure-san's abilities are difficult to judge, given that she is invisible except for her clothing, so the results will have to speak for themselves, I am afraid. She did not distinguish herself in any particular way during class, so she will be classified as low-tier."

"Aww…" Hagakure moped for a moment before perking up and whirling to face Todoroki, a pair of indentations on his shoulders suggesting that she had placed her hands there, "Train me up good, okay, Senpai?"

"I'm pretty sure that's Ojiro's job."

"Members are perfectly within their rights to seek assistance from whomever they please, even those of a lower tier." Iida recited as though reading it straight from a book, "Bakugo-san was very specific on that point."

"Speaking of Bakugo-san," Yaoyorozu took over, "guess whose turn it is on the chopping block? Well, I say that, but the only real flaw in his ability as a combatant is that he lacks formal training and therefore doesn't always know how to capitalize on a given situation without his Quirk. I don't think anyone here is surprised to find him in high-tier."

"Damn right." was all Katsuki had to say about that.

"Now, next would ordinarily be Midoriya-san," Iida said, "but, given that he was unable to actually participate in the sparring sessions last time, we have been unable to adequately evaluate his abilities. That will have to be part of our activities today. Instead, I shall move on to Yaoyorozu-san. It should come as no surprise, given that she attained top marks in the Quirk Assessment due to her phenomenal physical abilities as well as the versatility of her Quirk, but she also acquitted herself well in the class sparring matches. I believe she has had formal training, given her apparent level of skill. I will mirror her actions in this situation and seek approval from Bakugo-san regarding her rank."

"Yeah, yeah. Put her in high-tier so we can get on with the main event already!" Katsuki barked, "Kirishima."

* **WHACK** *

"Thank you, Bakugo-san, Iida-san." Yaoyorozu smiled and bowed to each of them in turn, "I am flattered to hear you speak so highly of me. Now then, let's proceed with Midoriya-san's evaluation, shall we? This will actually be a good opportunity to demonstrate our plans regarding any new club members we may receive in the future."

"AH! AH-HA! I HAVE FOUND IT!" a loud voice suddenly tore through the underground arena, "Oh, my sneaky, sneaky Listeners! What an interesting location you have found here! Shota! Over here, Shota!"

Present Mic had arrived with Aizawa in tow. Not a minute too soon either in Katsuki's opinion.

"Damn it, Yamada," Aizawa trudged in after his excitable coworker, "I kept trying to tell you that they send me directions. There was absolutely no need for you to go tearing off on your own looking for the place. Completely illogical."

It was debatable whether or not Present Mic had heard Aizawa, as he was currently dashing around and examining every corner of the arena.

"You know, this place really isn't half-bad. We should definitely get Cementoss down here to spruce up the place a bit. I think an announcer's booth would look good right over there, and we could have him raise up some bleachers or something too! Maybe some additional lighting? I wouldn't want to mess with the atmosphere of the place _too_ much though, it's got that mysterious, underground, borderline-illegal type of feel to it, which is great for something like this!" he whirled around and gave the students a thumbs-up, "I approve! Whoever found this place did a phenomenal job! YEAH!"

"As long as there's a good place for me to roll out my sleeping bag, I really don't care." Aizawa griped as he made his way to a nearby corner and proceeded to do just that.

"You've actually got good timing, Announcer-sensei. We were just about to need your services." Katsuki addressed Present Mic.

"Oh?" the radio host immediately gave Katsuki his full attention, "Do you mean what I think you mean, Listener?"

"Yep. We're about to have our first match to determine where Deku sits in the lineup."

"Oh, YEAH! Get excited, Listeners!" Present Mic sprung into action immediately, his voice easily filling the room, "I've already been briefed on all the rules, so no worries! When it comes to an evaluation match like this, the members choose three people from amongst their ranks: a low-tier, a mid-tier, and a high-tier! The applicant will then fight them in this order until they have either gone one round with all three or are unable to continue! They will be ranked according to their results and these decisions are FINAL! ARE YOU READY?!"

"Deku," Katsuki commanded, "our members have some doubts about what you can actually do. Get in there and show us."

Deku snapped his lighter shut one final time, pocketed it, and rose from his crouching position.

"You got it, boss."

"Hey, boss," Kirishima addressed Katsuki, "make me his mid-tier opponent. I want a piece of him."

Katsuki shook his head.

"It's not up to me. If it was, then none of the other high-tiers would ever get a shot. Tailman's the one calling the shots here."

"Huh. I guess that makes sense. Oi, Ojiro! I want in on this action!"

"Kirishima-san, huh?" Ojiro said thoughtfully, "I suppose that's alright. In that case, it'll be Kaminari-san, Kirishima-san, then Yaoyorozu-san."

"Eh?!" Deku stumbled on his way to the center of the room, "Why Yaoyorozu-san?!"

"For that exact reason, Midoriya-san." Ojiro responded with an evil grin, "Give us all a good show, eh?"

"And the matchups have been decided!" Present Mic announced, "The first round will be a battle of the Class Presidents! Vice-President Midoriya versus President Kaminari! Who will be the one to lay down the law?! No Quirks, no weapons, no tools and NO MERCY! I can hardly wait!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was nervous. This was not unusual; he was often nervous. He was a nervous type of person. This particular instance was slightly different, however.

He was not nervous because of the crowd, nor because of the announcer, nor even because of his impending fights. No, he was nervous because he was going to have to fight a girl. It was against the code of any self-respecting man to strike a lady, even though he knew that there were female Villains just the same as male ones.

Well, at least that wouldn't be until the last round. As long as he did well in the first two, then he could at least make mid-tier, right?

No. That was the wrong way to be thinking. Aim for the top, right? No matter what, he had to always give it his all!

…Even if that was going to be really, really difficult against Yaoyorozu.

"Yo, Midoriya," Kaminari was bouncing on the balls of his feet across from Izuku, "you gonna put 'em up or just stand there?"

"Ah, sorry, Kaminari-san." Izuku immediately took his stance, deciding on an orthodox one with his fists raised just as the bell, which Yaoyorozu had just produced, rang, "I didn't mean to zone out like that. I'll make sure to take this seriously!"

"Great!" Kaminari charged forwards at Izuku, head down and open palms at his sides, "Then maybe I'll be able to go all-ou-MMPH!"

"OH and Midoriya starts things off with a clean shot to the face! Kaminari really ran right into that one, didn't he?!"

"Damn…" Kaminari got to his feet from where Izuku's hook had sent him sprawling, "talk about fast!"

"Not really," Izuku admitted, "it's just you were so wide open that I could read your moves from a mile away."

 _Well, I'm not going to get anywhere just standing here, am I?_

Izuku waited for Kaminari to be just a few paces away before kicking off with his back leg and closing the distance before his opponent could react, sinking his fist into the Class President's midsection, doubling him over before following up with a leg sweep and a hand on his back slamming him into the ground.

"My word, Listeners! Midoriya is absolutely dominating! Who would have expected this from the meek and polite Vice-President of Class 1-A?!"

Honestly, Izuku felt a little bad. He knew that Kaminari was underestimating him and he was taking full advantage of that, but that was part of what had landed him in low-tier in the first place, right? Besides, showing off was kind of the _point_ here.

With that in mind, Izuku climbed on Kaminari's prone form, twisting his arms backwards and planting his knee between his opponent's shoulder blades.

"Ow! Owowowow!"

"I could do some serious damage from this position and there's no way he's escaping it unless he's considerably stronger than I am." Izuku stated to the audience, "Can we call this or do I need to hold him here until the round is over?"

"Call it! Call it! For the love of god, call it! This hurts!"

"Midoriya takes the first round by verbal tap-out!" Ojiro announced.

"Well, there you have it, Listeners!" Present Mic confirmed, "The first round was over in a flash with Midoriya emerging as the victor without breaking a sweat! Let's see if the second round will provide more of a challenge for him! We have the rough-and-tumble brawler with a manly streak as wide as the day is long, Kirishima!"

"Damn," Kaminari rolled his shoulders after Izuku helped him up, "I guess I really do have some training to do, huh? Good luck, Midoriya! Keep kicking ass so my defeat doesn't look quite as bad, yeah?"

"I'll do my best, Kaminari-san."

"Well, I sure as hell hope so!" Kirishima laughed as he slammed a fist into his open palm, "I've wanted to go a few rounds with you ever since Bakugo said you two spar all the time, but I guess I'll have to settle for just one round for now. You better watch out, 'cause I'm _pumped_ after watching you destroy Kaminari like that!"

Izuku did not reply, but took his stance with a grim expression, mind racing.

 _Kaminari-san's selling point is his toughness. I don't want this to become a battle of attrition if I can help it. Trading hits is out of the question. Ordinarily, I'd want to attack from a distance if at all possible, but that's not an option here. I guess all that's left is going in hard and overwhelming him with hit-and-run tactics!_

The bell rang and in stark contrast to how his previous match had started, Izuku went charging straight in. Kirishima had evidently not expected this, because he made absolutely zero effort to dodge Izuku's flurry of punches.

"Jab, jab, hook, bodybodybodybody UPPERCUT!" Present Mic provided the play-by-play.

Kirishima staggered back slightly, but when Izuku made to capitalize on his advantage, he was dealt a crushing blow to the head that sent him straight to the floor.

 _What the hell was THAT?!_

"Man," Kirishima grunted, cracking his neck, "I can see what Bakugo was talking about. His advice about making sure my counterattacks were on-point is good shit." he flashed his sharp-toothed grin at Izuku as he got to his feet, "Speaking of good shit, you sure came right out of the gate swinging, didn't you Midoriya? Keep that up. It's more fun that way."

 _Seriously? I knew he was tough, but I just whacked him right on the jaw! I guess I really can't afford to hold back for fear of hurting him, huh? I should have figured that out by watching Kacchan fight him before._

Izuku charged again, but juked to the side at the last second, swinging a haymaker with the full force of his momentum behind it at Kirishima's torso. He was gratified when he felt the blow connect and he capitalized on it by leaping onto his opponent and wrestling him to the ground, where he proceeded to punch him across the face no fewer than six times before stopping.

"Do you give up?!"

His response was a manic grin that gave him just enough time to realize he had made a mistake before Kirishima seized his head and cracked their skulls together.

"Who the hell do you think you're dealing with, Midoriya?! You might have done some damage if you were using your Quirk, but I can take hits like that all damn day, even _without_ Hardening!"

Their positions were suddenly reversed as Kirishima struck him across the face and twisted his hips sharply, bringing him to the ground.

"Let me show you how to _really_ do a ground-and-pound, buddy!"

 _Shit! Arms up, arms up!_

"Twists and turns abound as Kirishima not only takes every hit that Midioriya throws at him, but has now managed to completely reverse the situation and is giving the boy a taste of his own medicine! Don't drop that guard, Midoriya!"

Each blow rocked Izuku through his guard as he frantically tried to figure a way out of his predicament.

 _He's stronger than me without One For All and he's bigger too! There's no way I can just pull the same stunt he did to get away! If I could land a counter, then maybe…_

Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right.

… _wait, that's it! He's settled into a rhythm now. If I can just match it at the right moment…but I'll only get one shot._

Izuku waited for Kirishima's next left, pretending to loosen his guard on his right side in order to bait a good, strong hit. When he saw his opponent's grin widen and his eyes light up, Izuku knew he had taken the bait. He jerked his head to the left, causing Kirishima's straight punch to smack the floor as he sent his right fist screaming towards his opponent's face, twisting his body as much as he could.

His right hook connected and, with the added force of his body, Izuku freed himself and rolled away, regaining his feet.

"Hah! GodDAMN you're something else, Midoriya!" Kirishima was clearly having the time of his life. Izuku was still a bit woozy though, and made up his mind to just keep his distance for the rest of the round.

"Not coming, huh? Then I'll just have to come to you instead!"

…Crap. He forgot that moving was something Kirishima could do.

* **DING DING DING** *

"Oh, thank god!" Izuku couldn't help but gasp.

"And with that the second round has come to a close! It was a red-hot brawl from start to finish, Listeners and, to this announcer's eyes at least, there was no clear winner! Let's see what our referee has to say!"

Ojiro took a moment to consider the combatants before speaking.

"In terms of skill, Midoriya-san is obviously superior, but you can't argue with the results of the match, though things may have ended differently if he had not stopped mid-match to ask for a surrender. Take this lesson to heart, Midoriya-san: in a match like this, put your faith in the referee to know when to stop the fight. In a life-and-death battle, you would not have stopped until your opponent was incapacitated. While I will not ask you to go quite as far here, you do not need to hold yourself back quite so much. I allowed Kirishima-san to fight you because I want to see what you can do. The pair of you are a fit match in my eyes. With that in mind, I will declare the second round to be a draw!"

A draw. Well, that was about as good as he could have hoped for, given the situation. Now, however, was the moment he had been dreading.

"Now, Listeners, Midoriya's opponent for the third and final round! She's equal parts lovely and dangerous: it's Yaoyorozu!"

"You look off-put, Midoriya-san." she looked at him with mild concern, "Are you concussed?"

"Ah, n-no. That is, I don't think so." Izuku scratched his head, suddenly very uncomfortable, "It's just…I don't like the idea of hitting a girl."

"Well, as sweet as that is, I'm afraid it's not going to do you any favors here." the bell rang and she dashed forwards and sent him flying with a kick to the chest, "After all, this girl isn't afraid to hit _you_."

"OH, a swift and decisive blow from Yaoyorozu! It seems we have some misplaced chivalry on our hands, Listeners! If he doesn't shape up soon, our young Midoriya is about to learn his lesson the _hard_ way!"

"I'm afraid he's right, Midoriya-san."

Izuku pushed himself to his knees, realizing how much damage he must have taken from his fight with Kirishima when his body wouldn't move the way he wanted it to. Yaoyorozu walked towards him at a sedate pace and when she was close enough, she kicked him in the side, sending him back to the ground.

"If I was a Villain, I could have killed you by now, Midoriya-san." Yaoyorozu said sadly, "I appreciate what you are trying to do here by upholding your own values, but those values are worthless on the battlefield if they put you or someone else in danger."

Izuku tried once again to stand, but Yaoyorozu got to him first and hauled him up by his collar with surprising strength.

"You see? This is exactly why Ojiro-san decided to have _me_ fight you instead of the other four. Even though you're tired from your fight with Kirishima, you should still be able to at least offer _some_ resistance. I kind of wish you would." she threw him back to the floor, knocking the air from his lungs, "Right now, I just feel bad. Like I'm picking on your or something. At least if you hit me back then I could feel justified."

"Gah…" Izuku regained his breath and shook his head slightly to try and rid himself of his sudden headache, "I…"

He understood. He knew that she was right. He knew that he was being hypocritical and foolish.

…But he couldn't help that it still just didn't _feel_ right. The idea made him sick to his stomach.

 _You're a hypocrite. You can hurt a man but not a woman? What difference is there if they're trying to hurt you? If they're trying to hurt someone else? What if it was someone you cared for? What then? Would you stand by and watch because you didn't feel like hitting a girl?_

 _I…no!_

 _Do you think All Might never had to fight any women? If so, I'm calling bullshit. You know for a_ fact _that he did._

 _No, I know that! I know that it doesn't make any sense!_

 _Then get off your ass and punch her in the face._

Izuku forced himself to his feet and faced Yaoyorozu, who was standing calmly with her hands at her sides and a look of pity on her face.

Izuku raised his hands, prepared for her to advance on him again, but she just shook her head.

"It's too late, Midoriya-san."

* **DING DING DING** *

"The round is already over."

"Well, that was, uh, anticlimactic." even Present Mic sounded disappointed.

"Needless to say, that round goes to Yaoyorozu-san." Ojiro stated flatly, "It is now time to pass judgement on Midoriya-san. Honestly, I had high hopes for him until now. He has proven to be skilled, resourceful and canny, but his merciful state of mind and inability to fight women are simply flaws that are too large to ignore. On skill alone, I can recommend him for mid-tier, but no higher."

"I second this motion." Iida pronounced.

"I too support this motion." Yaoyorozu agreed.

Kacchan sighed, clearly disappointed.

"Well, I guess that's how it is. Deku is hereby placed in mid-tier. Kirishima."

* **WHACK** *

* * *

 **I originally planned for Izuku to be high-tier, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that he has some serious hang-ups that he needs to work through before he's on their level as a pure fighter. This is not to say he's less powerful then them. Obviously he can hang with just about anyone when it comes to Quirks, but, as it is repeatedly stated in this chapter, that's not what Fight Club is about.**

 **Next time we'll be seeing USJ again, so look forward to that!**

 **As always, thank you for reading.**


	24. Chapter 24: Rescue Training: Take Two

**We haven't quite broken 1,000 Follows yet, but we are SUPER close. Something else has happened, however: Torchbearer has a TVTROPES PAGE! SUPER BIG shoutout to Twain apprentice for setting the whole thing up. I'm keeping my mitts off of it except to make minor edits here and there because I'm a firm believer that a fic's tropes page should be made by the fans, FOR the fans. If you feel like contributing to it, please feel free!**

 **Ffnet doesn't allow the posting of links, but if you add "/Fanfic/Torchbearer" after the "php" in the TvTropes URL, it should take you to the page.**

 **With that awesome development out of the way, review time:**

 **waitasecondwhoareyou, uchihaNaruto247, the_narr_master, bhennen, Gallifrey denizen, Jack Redhawke, dbrown95, Alexzander95, Markus-Antonius, The 0bservanc3, UnholyTomahawk : A lot of people are wondering where Izuku's "can't hit a girl" thing came from. Honestly, it was kind of a gut thing for me. When I think about him it just makes sense to me that he would have issues hitting women. I was deciding which high-tier fighter to put him up against and the idea just occurred to me and I ran with it. I'm not sorry that I did either: this opens the gate for some additional development and you know I'm all about that.**

 **As for his fight with "Camie" in canon, it's really not much of one. He dodges for a bit, gets tackled, throws her off of him, slaps a ball out of her hand and then gets saved by the arrival of Sero and Uraraka. Plus, things happened _fast_. He really didn't have time to get himself worked up about it. Couple that with the fact that this is _much_ later on in the story, being the Provisional License Exam, as well as the fact that, unless I am very much mistaken, this is the ONLY Izuku vs. Female fight that we've seen in canon so far, I don't think this is too much of a stretch.**

 **Lightningblade49: I love Hajime no Ippo. For sure Izuku will be improving his fighting abilities and since boxing is one of the forms I actually know something about, it will likely be featured in some way.**

 **grahamgarrett_powerofanime : I'm always happy when I hear that I've been able to inspire others!**

 **the_narr_master:** **I thought about having Mic there all along, but I liked the idea of him getting lost first and then ruining the mood. I have actually been considering her going with Infinity Girl as her Hero Name, especially now that it's going to be popularized somewhat. I never had a _problem_ with Uravity, but it just doesn't roll off the tongue that well for me. You're right about it being marketable.**

 **bhennen:** **We will certainly see more of Monoma and you may very well get your wish. As for what would happen if he copied One For All, that's got to be one of the biggest questions the fandom has had ever since he was introduced, in no small part because One For All cannot be stolen. Now, one could argue that Monoma would just be copying it, not stealing it, since the original user of the Quirk still has full access to it. So let's assume for a moment that this is the case. In Torchbearer, at any rate, he would gain access to the base 5% Smash and, unless he figured out how to absorb fire and then use it, that'd be it. If he _did_ somehow figure this multi-step process out within his five-minute time limit, then he would burn and possibly break himself depending on how much of it he uses. Bearing in mind that Monoma is also really, _really_ smart though, I think he would realize after seeing Izuku mess himself up that copying his Quirk might be a bad idea.**

 **Alexzander95: I talk about this under the lumped comment response up-top, but you went the extra mile here. I totally agree with Izuku only being on-par with Katsuki because he knows him so well, at least at this point in the story. He's like Batman: if you give him time to plan shit out you're gonna have a bad time. We will most certainly be seeing what happens when he gets outright overwhelmed. It might even be Shoji who gives us this moment. I ended up going with my gut on this one and that's served me well as a writer so far. ****I absolutely see this as constructive criticism and I thank you for it.**

 **Jack Inqu:** **I'm glad that you are pleased with Iida's scene and the rankings. Props for being one of the few who seems to understand what exactly I was going for with the Izuku vs. Momo fight. You're absolutely correct about him not being allowed to keep this mindset for long and this chapter shows the start of how that will be fixed.**

 **TheKwertyOne : It's entirely plausible that One For All might have some property that slows the aging process. I'm not sure where you're getting all of your facts from, particularly about Nana not having a family until she passed on OFA. To me, Toshinori is probably around 50. Endeavor is 46 and has been chasing after All Might for some time, implying that he's at least a bit older since he was already an established Hero by the time Endeavor got going. Also, Izuku refers to him as "not that old" which, to me, would have to exclude him being in his 60's. That's legit old. Fun fact about the timeline: I actually settled on the year 2222 for no particular reason.**

 **The 0bservanc3:** **No worries. Take your time. I mean more along the lines of Tenya dialing back his formal speaking and more prim-and-proper tendencies. He's probably attempting to loosen up a bit as well, but all of that comes full-circle because of the stress he puts on himself by trying to blend in. The sound block is not taped to Kirishima's back, though that would be hilarious. It has to be put back every time he kneels. I honestly do not think that everyone in 1A will become high-tier, even with time. Some of them just won't reach that level. Mid-tier? Possibly. I might also use the idea that there can only be a certain number of high-tier fighters at any one time, probably ten. Add some healthy internal competition. I did indeed fix the typo.**

 **I didn't want to get too vicious with the Fight Club. Bruises and maybe a little bit of blood here and there? Sure. Full-on bloodsport? Not so much. They do still need to be able to function in class and Recovery Girl would pitch a fit. There's not as much of a strength difference between Izuku and Kirishima as you might think, but the latter is certainly tougher due to his Quirk-strengthening training. He's also bigger and heavier than Izuku, giving him some added leverage. Kirishima has also been training for longer than Izuku, yes, even if his training wasn't as intense. Some of that was also because Izuku just got his bell rung and wasn't operating at full-capacity.**

 **You are also correct about Fight Club's initiation being fundamentally unfair. It's designed to push any and all applicants to the limits of their abilities and unless they're some sort of badass, they're not getting into high-tier right off the bat. You could almost compare it to a minor form of hazing if you wanted. It would certainly fit the atmosphere that they're going for. To be clear though, even if Izuku was going in fresh, he still wouldn't have been able to win against Yaomomo. She really is just that good. Those high-tier seats aren't given out to just anybody.**

 **Dright Lore : I'm glad that you enjoyed that scene. I really wanted Bakugo to go all-out with the presentation and the idea of Thug!Deku was just too good to pass up.**

 **Twain apprentice : I actually watched the most recent episode on-time this week and I think they did a great job with the Mirio vs. Everyone fight. Don't stress man, school comes first. As for the TvTropes page, in the immortal words of Tim McGraw: I like it, I love it, I want some more of it. It still blows me away that I even HAVE one and I look forward to watching it grow.**

 **Sentinel07, MIKE202303, Midgetman, and everyone else: Thank you for the support and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, I don't think we've gotten into Tooru's head yet. Let's do that.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four: Rescue Training: Take Two

Tooru Hagakure's head hurt for more reasons than one. Well, technically it _was_ all because of the same thing; namely that she had been hit in the head.

 _But_ , butbutbut, _that_ had happened for multiple reasons. First off was self-explanatory: Fight Club. Taking hits to various body parts sort of came with the territory. She got that, even if her Quirk made those morning-after regrets somewhat interesting to deal with. For one, she didn't have to worry about any ugly bruises since she was, well, invisible.

On that same note, she never really had any visual reference for how injured she actually was because, again, invisible. Bit of a mixed bag, that.

Her Quirk, as a doctor had once explained to her, worked on a cellular level. That is to say, every part of her body and everything that came _from_ her body was invisible. That obviously meant her skin, hair, eyes, teeth, nails, etc, but it _also_ meant sweat, tears, spit, blood and all other various bodily fluids. Thankfully, this also applied to things that she consumed. Grossness-potential averted.

What this all meant was that Tooru had become very in-tune with her body over the years. Moreso than any "normal" person would have. After all, neither she nor anyone else could rely on their sight to tell what was going on with her. She had to rely on physical sensations and her own sense of touch, as well as occasionally smell and taste. Most commonly this was used to determine if some wetness on a sore area was sweat or blood (it was sweat this time).

Needless to say, when she got injured, self-diagnosing was never a fun thing to do. She had developed a heightened tolerance for pain very, _very_ quickly when she had to go poking around her own wounds to find out just how bad they were. Fortunately, from what she could tell, there was no bleeding. She was just bruised up a little. And she had a headache.

Geez, Todo really let her have it. That was reason number two for her current status: She had insisted on sparring with Mr. Icy-Hot himself in spite of their difference in rank. He had protested, but she just kept on pestering him until he gave in.

On the bright side, if there had been any doubt as to whether or not the high-rankers deserved their positions, it was quickly dashed. While her Quirk, Invisibility, had a lot of downsides to it, it also had a lot of strengths. One of those, theoretically, was that any opponent she faced would have a hard time reading her movements and reacting to them. After all, you can't fight what you can't see, right?

Wrong, apparently.

Now, granted, she hadn't been in her Hero Costume (hey, if others could give it a nice name like Birthday Suit then she could call it whatever she wanted), but she had made sure to roll up the sleeves of her gym clothes to disguise her arm movements. In spite of this, she hadn't been able to land a single hit on Todo.

Tooru had thought that she was doing well at first. She was pressuring Todo and forcing him to keep his guard up. Or so she thought. It turned out that he was using his guard to figure out her reach and learn to read her movements just by watching her torso. Which he then proceeded to punch.

The heck of it was that Tooru knew for a fact that he had been holding back. He had never followed up on any of his attacks, just taking single shots at her and letting them speak for themselves. This either meant that he had some hang-up about hitting her (yeah, right) or that she was just _that_ bad.

It didn't help that he was also hiding a _very_ nicely-toned body underneath those clothes. Now, she wasn't Mina, but it was still hard to overlook this particular fact when she had spent a large portion of the USJ incident clinging onto him as tightly as she could.

In spite of all this, it still didn't account for her headache. Whenever Todo had gone after her head, she had either seen it coming and avoided it, or he had pulled his punches and turned them into love-taps. No, _that_ particular hit had been entirely, one-hundred percent her fault.

That brought her to reason number three: Tooru had been distracted. To her credit, while she _was_ naturally bubbly and occasionally a bit of an airhead (because all anyone saw when they looked at her head was air), she knew how to focus when the situation demanded it. She was also, thanks in no small part to her Quirk necessitating her over-exaggeration of it, very good at reading body language.

This meant that when she had side-stepped one of Todo's punches (go _her_ , by the way) and had seen Midoriya sitting on the sidelines with a bent back and hunched shoulders, clearly only pretending to pay attention to the proceedings in stark contrast to what he usually did, alarm bells had gone off in her head.

This had the unintended side-effect of causing her to freeze up at exactly the wrong moment and eat a punch that Todo had clearly not thought would land and so had neglected to pull quite as much.

Tooru, meet flooru.

" _Oh, sh- Hagakure? Are you still conscious?" Todo was kneeling down next to her, looking slightly to the left of where her face was._

" _Agh…yeah. Yep. Definitely still wide-awake." the pain in her head was confirming that for her quite nicely._

" _Right. Stupid question, but…you know." he looked a bit sheepish underneath his stoic expression._

" _Can't see my eyes, I get it."_

" _Can you sit up?"_

" _I dunno. Haven't tried yet."_

" _You probably should. You might be concussed."_

" _That'd be bad."_

 _He merely blinked at her, prompting her to prop herself up on her elbows and attempt to push herself – uh-oh._

 _She would have fallen back and hit her head again if a warm left hand hadn't caught her back._

" _Dizzy." she managed, "Just a bit dizzy. Sat up too fast. 'm fine."_

" _Any nausea? Tiredness? Double-vision?"_

" _Well, there's this weird thing where one half of you looks a bit different from the other."_

" _I'm being serious."_

 _Nothing. Not even a smirk. Tough crowd._

" _Okay,_ Senpai, _no. I think I just got my bell rung a bit, that's all."_

 _He helped her to her feet and she took a moment to steady herself._

" _I think something's wrong with Midoriya." this prompted him to glance over at where the other boy sat._

"… _He_ did _just get sorted into mid-tier, likely contrary to several people's expectations. Couple this with the fact that his last match was something of a disaster and it's not surprising that he's brooding."_

In retrospect, Tooru realized, that was probably the most that she had ever seen Todo say to someone in one go outside of answering a question in class or something.

Back in the present, however, Recovery Girl was currently snapping her fingers at her.

"Dearie, I am quite used to students being quiet and still during my assessments and treatments, but given that you are invisible and came to me with a _head injury_ , I would ask that you refrain from doing so. The eyes are quite important in assessing a case like this so I am relying on your insight in lieu of this."

"Right. Sorry, ma'am. I just zoned out for a bit there."

"Well, from what you've told me I don't think that you have a concussion. Even so, you were right to come to me. Head injuries should never be taken lightly." just a moment later and the living embodiment of Granny's Magic Kisses had her feeling much better. Tooru thanked her and went on her way, sucking on the hard candy that the elderly nurse had given her.

She rolled Todo's summary of Midoriya's situation over in her head and, while it made perfect sense on the surface, she couldn't help but feel that there was something more to it. Granted, she didn't know the green-haired boy all that well, so she could be completely off-base, but he didn't strike her as the type to get all bent out of shape just because he got his ass kicked by a girl. If anything, he'd be too busy analyzing the fight itself to care.

…Unless the fight itself had been the problem. Even as beat-up as he had been, Tooru had been surprised at how effortlessly Yaomomo had taken him apart. Couple that with the fact that one of the smartest, most logical guys in class was apparently incapable of hitting a girl and she really couldn't blame Todo for his choice of words; "disaster" seemed appropriate.

Maybe that was the problem? Midoriya was, from what she could tell, a fairly withdrawn person. He was the type that could carry on a conversation just fine once he warmed up to you or if you got him going on the right subject matter (Quirks, Heroes and Tactics seemed to be his primary choices), but nobody had really seen him just…shut down.

If this was really that big of a problem for him, Tooru decided, then she would have to get the rest of the girls together and figure out a way to help him with it. After all, he had already done so much for the rest of the class in less than two weeks. There was the ice-breaker on the first day, the advice and feedback from the Battle Trial, serving as the Class Vice-President, helping out with Fight Club…

…Oh, and there was that small thing where he basically saved everyone's lives at USJ.

Yes, Tooru mused as she made her way home, Midoriya had definitely more than earned whatever help they could offer him.

Plus, what boy would ever say no to some extra attention from the girls? Unless he was gay, but Tooru was pretty sure he wasn't.

Another perk to being invisible: you could catch people looking, even if it wasn't at you.

You could also ogle to your heart's content.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

It was Thursday, and Izuku Midoriya, along with most of the rest of the class, he imagined, had mixed feelings about the day's Hero Training that Aizawa had just announced.

Barely a week after the events that had transpired there, events that had changed their lives and even prompted one of them to leave U.A. forever, they were going back to USJ.

"Surely you didn't think that you'd never be going back?" Aizawa raised an eyebrow after the initial outburst had subsided, "USJ is an incredibly valuable training facility. It would be completely irrational to abandon it."

"Hey, hey," Kaminari had stood up and was attempting to calm the class, "come on. Have some faith in Aizawa-sensei, yeah? I'm sure if they're sending us back then that means they've beefed up the security so we can't be cut off like we were before. It'd be irrational not to, right, Sensei?"

"That is correct." Aizawa nodded, "We have installed a wired emergency communications system with redundant connections in case any are cut. In addition to this, all wireless radio communications across the entire U.A. campus are now pinged at regular intervals. If any of these experiences latency that is outside of our acceptable spectrum, all faculty are notified immediately. Likewise, if our devices fails to receive a routine all-clear from these pings, then it will trigger our individual alarm."

"There, you see?" the Class President spread his arms, "There's no need to worry."

Even after this, a few students still appeared reluctant. Among them, Izuku noticed, was Uraraka. She was looking directly at him and biting her lip anxiously.

Of course she'd feel that way. She had, arguably, had it even rougher than him. At least _he'd_ been unconscious after he'd pulled his stunt. What she'd gone through…he didn't want to imagine. He'd pick his role in a heartbeat over having to wonder if one of his friends was going to make it or not.

"I understand your nervousness." Aizawa addressed the class, "Let's not forget that I got pretty roughed up there myself, but answer me this: when was the last time any of you heard of a Hero refusing to patrol a certain street because something bad happened there? Surely you're not irrational enough to think that Heroes _always_ succeed? They have bad memories too. They constantly have to revisit areas that have terrible things associated with them. Hell, if you're a Hero for long enough, I'd imagine that you could hardly walk two blocks without passing by the site of an old failure. A mistake that could have been avoided. A Villain that could have been stopped. A life that could have been saved."

The class was silent. All eyes were on their teacher.

"Hell, compared to all of that, I'd say what you all went through was comparatively tame. After all, we made it through USJ without losing a single student or teacher. The worst of it was myself and Midoriya and we're both fine. Do you disagree, Midoriya?"

Izuku stood up and took a steadying breath. He needed to do his part now.

"Looking at it from a reasonable standpoint, USJ was a success on our end. We were attacked and we successfully captured nearly all of the Villains involved. Only two escaped. Apart from the two cases that you have already mentioned, Sensei, our casualties were kept to a minimum. It would be foolish to suggest that there was not emotional trauma as a result of the event. I know that it impacted me and I have no doubt that it also impacted everyone else in varying degrees. However, as you have said, part of being a Hero involves finding ways to deal with those feelings. I'd be lying if I said that I was chomping at the bit to return to USJ, but at the same time I understand the logic behind it. In addition, your description of the additional security measures that have been put in place has helped to set my mind at ease."

Izuku caught Kaminari's eye and nodded.

"Also, as Class Vice-President, I would like to second Kaminari-san's stance on this matter: we should all have faith in not only Aizawa-sensei, but U.A. as a whole. If we let the USJ Incident impact our progress, then the Villains win. That is all." he dutifully sat back down, noticing the glint of approval in Aizawa's eye.

"If everyone understands, then suit up and get to the bus. Oh, and _unlike_ last time, All Might will be with us from the start. So there's that."

Izuku would be lying if he said that this particular piece of information wasn't reassuring.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

After the class had all changed into their costumes (Izuku included, as the Support Department had finished repairing his) and boarded the bus, Izuku made it a point to take a seat next to Uraraka.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a tactfully-low voice. She opened her mouth to give him what he knew would be something akin to "of course" and he cut her off before she could get it out, "Uraraka-san, I _know_ what last time did to you. I'm the only one here who does, so _please_ don't brush this off just because you don't want me to worry." her eyes widened for a moment before her gaze fell and she rubbed her arms as if to warm herself.

"Deku-kun…you're right. What you said in class, I mean. I know that we all made it through and that if I let it get to me then I'm doing what the Villains want. It's just…it's just so _soon_."

He understood. He understood better than most.

That was why he knew that small platitudes and reassurances just wouldn't cut it.

"Uraraka-san, do you remember how All Might wanted to talk to me during lunch last Friday?"

"Huh? Yeah." she looked momentarily taken aback at the sudden change of subject, but rolled with it, "The rest of us thought that he might have wanted to congratulate you for holding off that Villain back at USJ and then for giving him that warning before he fought it."

Carefully. He had to choose his words carefully. Tell the truth without telling too _much_ of the truth.

Because Izuku refused to lie straight to the face of someone he cared for. The fact that it was Uraraka was only partly relevant.

"You're partly right. In fact, you might be completely right. He started off trying to talk about one thing, but…"

Why was this hard? Honesty, right? That was what he had promised himself. When in doubt, just go with the truth.

Or at least as much of the truth as he could without breaking his oath to All Might.

"Deku-kun?" Izuku suddenly made up his mind and grabbed one of her hands in both of his, taking a moment to thank whatever had given him the stroke of inspiration to take a corner seat behind Shoji so that the larger boy could act as a blinder.

"Uraraka-san," she was clearly surprised at his sudden vehemence, but Izuku ignored this, "I need you to promise me that you won't spread this around, alright?" in the process, he tapped the back of Shoji's seat with his elbow, prompting the other boy to clap two of his six hands over his ears.

Uraraka locked his gaze with her own and nodded wordlessly.

"He could tell that something was wrong. All Might, that is. I'm not sure how he knew, but he knew. So I…I told him. I told him everything. I know that it wasn't right of me to do that when you told me in confidence but…I was desperate. I wanted to help you and I didn't know how and before I could stop myself…" he trailed off.

"You look up to All Might." she responded, covering his hands with her free one, "You idolize him and you felt safe confiding in him. I'm not mad, Deku-kun. You did what you did because you wanted to help, right?" he nodded, "Though, I do have one question: was that what prompted you to ask me out for Saturday? Because you were trying to make me feel better?"

It took all of Izuku's self-restraint not to raise his voice in denial.

"N-no! No, nothing like that. In fact, it was actually Kacchan who suddenly asked you out on my behalf out of nowhere! I had no idea what was going on!" realizing that he might have just put his foot in his mouth, Izuku hurriedly added, "N-not that I'm not g-glad that you said 'y-yes!'"

Well, _this_ had gotten off-track in a hurry.

"B-besides!" he hurriedly attempted to salvage the conversation, "You'll get to see Thirteen again! You like Thirteen."

"I do. I do like Thirteen." she rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh of resignation and looked up at him with a small smile, "I'm glad I said 'yes' too."

Then again, what had staying on-track ever done for anyone _really_?

"I just realized, I never actually thanked Shoji-kun for saving Thirteen. I should do that."

In front of the pair, unnoticed by anyone, Shoji smiled underneath his mask.

It was always nice to be appreciated.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Welcome back, Class 1-A!" Thirteen greeted them at the entrance, just like their first visit, "Unfortunately we were unable to conduct class as normal last time, so we will be playing catch-up today! Ordinarily we would have gone through each individual zone as a group, having done half of them last time and half of them this time. Instead, to make sure that we don't fall behind, we're breaking up into three groups and everyone will hit every zone today! Plus Ultra!"

The idea of getting through two days' worth of lessons in a single day was a daunting one, but Izuku couldn't argue with the necessity of it, or the solid planning behind it.

"Right! Now, a quick explanation before we divide you up." Thirteen continued, "Similarly to how we have Faux Villains, we here at U.A. also have Faux Civilians for the purpose of Rescue Training! You will each, in turn, attempt to rescue these Faux Civilians from the individual zones. We will cycle through them in an orderly fashion and then, once everyone has made an attempt at every zone, we will reconvene for a bit to discuss things and then we're all done for the day! Easy enough, right?"

The students indicated their understanding.

"Straight to it, then! Students one through six will be with me, students seven through twelve will be with Aizawa and students thirteen through eighteen, as well as student number twenty, will be with-"

"I AM HERE ON TIME TODAY!" All Might materialized in his muscle form from wherever he had been hiding, most likely to conserve his transformation time, Izuku thought.

"Good, good. Now that everyone is here, let's have my group start in the Flood Zone, Aizawa's group start in the Ruins Zone and All Might's Group start in the Mountain Zone. We will all proceed in a clockwise manner around the facility, okay? Meet up in the central plaza when you're all done. Rescue Training: Take Two!"

The teachers agreed to the plan of action and all walked off with their respective charges. Thirteen led Aoyama, Ashido, Asu- er, _Tsuyu_ , Iida, Uraraka and Ojiro. Aizawa had Kaminari, Kirishima, Koda, Sato, Shoji and Jiro in tow and All Might was followed by Sero, Tokoyami, Todoroki, Hagakure, Kacchan, Izuku himself and Yaoyorozu, being the only group of seven.

"Wow, man," Sero commented half-jokingly as they made their way to the south side of USJ, "if we _do_ end up getting attacked again, I gotta say this group is the one to be in. Between Bakugo, Midoriya and Todoroki, we've got the heaviest hitters in the whole class! And All Might-sensei, of course."

"It also means that if it's the same group, they'll come straight for us since their target was All Might-sensei in the first place." Tokoyami pointed out.

" **More importantly, why didn't you include** _ **me**_ **in that list, Tape Man?!"** Dark Shadow demanded.

"Now, now," All Might chastised, "none of that talk. Let's not start thinking of being invaded as a regular occurrence, alright? You let the staff worry about that. Be ready at all times, of course, but to not let yourselves become so paranoid that it detracts from your primary purpose here: learning. These are your high school days and in spite of whatever I'm sure Aizawa has told you, you should enjoy being in the prime of your youth while you can. Trust me, you'll all be tax-paying, productive members of society before you know it! HA HA HA~" his trademark laugh boomed across the landscape.

When they arrived at the Mountain Zone, All Might directed them to climb to the plateau at the top. Once there, he lined them up for instructions.

"Now, I think to keep things moving right along we shall proceed in seating order. This means that Sero will be first. You may all use your Quirks in whatever manner you see fit, but any damage to the Faux Civilian or needlessly reckless behavior will result in a point deduction. You have five minutes each to rescue the Faux Civilian. Begin!"

"Great," Sero chuckled as he donned his helmet, "I get to spend the whole lesson getting one-upped by everyone."

" _Help me! Help me!"_ an artificial voice emanated from the nearby canyon and Sero immediately took off towards it, followed by everyone else who still kept enough distance to let him work.

"Hoo boy," Sero said as he surveyed the area, "looks like they're stuck down there pretty good. Nothing else for it then." he then raised his voice, "Don't worry! I'm coming down for you! Just stay still!"

" _Help me! Help me!"_ Sero found a large boulder nearby, wrapped his tape around it a few times then, without breaking the strand, began to rappel his way down the side of the cliff to where the Faux Civilian, which looked like a crash test dummy, was waiting for him.

"Ah, All Might-sensei?" a thought had suddenly occurred to Izuku, "How much functionality do these Faux Civilians have? That is, if we ask if one is hurt or tell it to hang on, can they respond?"

"They can respond to specific prompts, yes." All Might nodded before stopping for a brief moment, "I probably should have mentioned that to young Sero. Excuse me."

As All Might hurriedly shouted this belated information down to Sero, Kacchan gave Izuku a smirk of approval.

Sero had no issue whatsoever retrieving the Faux Civilian, his Quirk having been tailor-made for just such a rescue. All Might returned the Faux Civilian to its original position and then it was Tokoyami's turn.

Things proceeded fairly smoothly. Tokoyami enlisted the aid of Dark Shadow to help him scale the cliff and when he was at the bottom, in the shade, Dark Shadow was able to reach far enough to safely deposit it on a few ledges as they made their way back up. Todoroki's approach was even more straightforward, consisting of him sliding down using his ice, and then ascending with the Faux Civilian in tow on a pillar of ice.

When Hagakure's turn came around, she took one look at the situation and then turned around. "Yaomomo-chan, could you make me some rope and stuff?"

"I would be happy to, but aren't we supposed to do this on our own this time around?" she looked to All Might for confirmation.

"Hmm…" he stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Well, requesting aid from other Heroes on the scene is a fundamental strategy in real situations, particularly in those where one's Quirk is ill-suited to the task at hand. I shall allow it for today and then we can ask Aizawa and Thirteen about it at the end of class. Those who can perform the rescues without aid will receive more points though, just to keep things fair."

So it was that Hagakure mirrored Sero's strategy, except she used the length of rope provided by Yaoyorozu to do so. She also had to ask for help in getting the Faux Civilian back _up_ the cliff, not being as physically strong as Sero or Dark Shadow.

Kacchan, for his part, dove headfirst off the side of the cliff and used a stream of explosions to land himself safely next to the Faux Civilian in record time. After ordering it to hang on, he scaled the cliff by hand, using small explosions to create handholds or make the occasional leap.

For his turn, Izuku utilized his physical fitness as well as the strength boost from One For All to use the same strategy as Hagakure with the rope that she had left behind. The main difference was that he was able to do it more quickly and did not require any assistance coming back up.

"Did you really need the rope, Deku?" Kacchan asked him.

"Maybe not," Izuku responded, "but it sure made things easier. Why not use it if it's there, you know? Besides," here, Izuku grinned, "my chance to show off is coming up next."

Yaoyorozu used the tried-and-true rope strategy and that was that. They descended and made their way to the nearby Conflagration Zone.

"You all did quite well there, I must say." All Might was pleased with their performance thusfar, "There is, after all, no need to reinvent the wheel. If a method works, use it. The safety of the civilians is your number one concern."

Once they reached the Conflagration Zone the rest of the students, having not seen it before, suddenly understood what Izuku meant by his confident statement earlier.

"Damn, Deku," Kacchan whistled, "this place is like a fucking playground for you, huh? All the fire you could ever need."

" **Guy sees a literal hellscape and thinks to himself, 'Ooh, fun.' I'm a little bit scared of him right now, I gotta admit."**

"One man's darkness is another man's dream, after all." Tokoyami said sagely, "We should count ourselves lucky to have such a one among us."

" _Help me! Help me!"_

"This time your target is holed up somewhere in that burning building. It is set to relocate after every rescue, so keep an eye out for that." All Might advised before giving Sero the go sign.

"Hnn…I'd rather not be in there for any longer than I have to." Sero mused before shouting, "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, COME TO YOUR WINDOW! I CAN SAVE YOU!"

"A risky maneuver," All Might commented, "I believe that will result in a random check to see if the Faux Civilian is injured enough to comply."

Fortunately for Sero, the crash dummy stuck its head and arms out of a window about three-quarters of the way up the building and started waving.

" _Help me! Help me!"_

Sero immediately shot his tape at the building and reeled himself up to the Faux Civilian. It grabbed on to him and he hauled it out of the building just as a sudden burst of flame blew out the window and caused Sero to detach.

"SHIIIIIIIIIT!" Sero fired off more tape wildly, trying to reattach himself. He succeeded and was forced to turn in midair, taking the impact against the wall with his back so the Faux Civilian wouldn't have to. He was then able to let out more tape and lower them the last remaining ten feet or so to the ground.

"Jesus Christ!" Sero gasped, "That's one way to get the blood pumping, eh? I mean, I know that if push came to shove that Sensei would've caught me, but still."

"Rescue situations are rarely predictable, especially ones such as this." All Might advised as the Faux Civilian walked back into the burning building to relocate itself for the next attempt.

Tokoyami was next and he attempted to employ the same strategy as Sero had of asking the Faux Civilian to come to a window.

" _I can't! I can't! Help me!"_

" **Well, that's a problem."** Dark Shadow commented.

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked, fascinated as always by the idea of conversing with a Quirk.

" **Well, as you know, I'm Dark Shadow. That place is neither dark, nor in shadow."**

"He gets weaker when exposed to the light." Tokoyami clarified, "Darkness makes him stronger, but there is precious little he can do in bright sunlight or, say, the middle of a raging inferno. My costume helps with this somewhat by keeping my body in the shade, but it will do precious little in such a situation. Furthermore, we do not know the precise location of the Faux Civilian. As this leaves me little recourse save to ask someone else to do it for me, I propose that we move on to Todoroki-san's turn."

"A sound proposal. Your reasoning will be reflected in your score. Have at it, Todoroki!" All Might barked.

Todoroki proceeded to freeze the exterior of the building, leaving the windows exposed. He then systematically checked each one until the third floor up where he found the Faux Civilian, who was caught underneath a support beam. One ice slide later and he was home free.

For Hagakure's turn, she took one look at the building, walked over to Todoroki, and indicated him with her gloved hands forming a "ta-dah" gesture.

"Sorry, but there's no way I can do anything about this. I guess I could operate a fire hose or escort people away from the building, but it'd have to be someone like Todo who gets them out of there."

"Good job noting some other ways that you could help." All Might acknowledged, "As I said before, some Quirks aren't suited for certain situations. Heading into a burning building could be especially risky for you given your, ah, costume. Bakugo, my boy! Let's see what you make of this!"

Kacchan apparently already had a plan in mind. He immediately turned to Yaoyorozu.

"Gas mask."

"Could've said 'please.'" she muttered as she produced the requested article from her stomach. No sooner was it in his possession then Kacchan ran at the building.

"You'll get a 'thank you' if it works!"

Credit where credit is due, Izuku thought. Nobody had actually just run into the building yet. Not much could be seen or heard except for the occasional shout and explosion. Suddenly, about three minutes later, a massive explosion ripped through the side of the building, proceeding Kacchan's exit through the hole with the Faux Civilian on his back just before the building collapsed.

After he had landed safely, Yaoyorozu stormed over to him, a look of furious disbelief on her face.

"What on earth was _that?!_ "

"It was coming down anyway."

"What?"

"It was on fire. Structurally unsound. It was ***cough*** coming down anyway."

"Did you inhale smoke? What did you do with the gas mask I gave you?"

At this, Kacchan gestured over his shoulder at the Faux Civilian, which was now wearing the gas mask.

"…Oh." Yaoyorozu suddenly deflated, "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry?"

"Weren't you listening to me?" Kacchan cocked an eyebrow at Yaoyorozu, "I said you'd get a 'thank you' if the mask worked. It worked. I used it until I found this bozo."

"Well, the Faux Civilian appears to be unharmed." All Might observed, "I will have to dock points for the building, but, as you stated, it was structurally unsound and would likely have collapsed anyway…if it wasn't made entirely of concrete. Still, for any live scenario, that would have been true, so I will be lenient. As I said, the safety of the civilians comes first and your civilian is most assuredly safe."

The Faux Civilian made its way to a new building that was situated next to the ruins of the old one, and then it was Izuku's turn. He rolled his shoulders, fixed his respirator in place and kicked down the door.

The respirator may not have been a proper gas mask, but it still helped and Izuku was glad to have it. Additionally, his heat-resistant costume made it easier for him to move about and he did not have to worry about touching hot surfaces as much. This meant that he could conduct his search largely unimpeded, only pausing to devour particularly troublesome patches of fire. Once or twice he had to expel the excess flames through a nearby window so he could take in more, but it went about as smoothly as a trip through a burning building could be expected to.

He even found the Faux Civilian with just over a minute to spare and was preparing to escort it out when it suddenly made an unexpected exclamation:

" _My baby! My baby!"_

Ah, shit. That changed things.

Izuku booked it to the window and shouted at the group below.

"Todoroki-san, ice slide! There's a kid in here!"

"WHAT?!" Kacchan, Sero and Hagakure shouted from the ground below, clearly surprised. Todoroki, true to form, acted immediately and produced the requested ice formation. Izuku practically threw the reluctant Faux Civilian down it before he frantically resumed his search of the apartment.

There was no sign of any other crash test dummies in the living area, so he kicked open the nearest door, which turned out to be the bathroom. No dice. The next one led to a bedroom with a crib and a miniature dummy in it, stirring feebly.

Well, that wasn't good.

Izuku tore off his respirator and put it over the child's face as he scooped it up and ran back to the living room, leaping onto Todoroki's ice slide. Thankfully, someone was at the bottom to catch him, because Izuku would have acquired a nasty case of road rash otherwise.

"The child's weak! I think it might have inhaled smoke!"

"Give it here." Todoroki commanded, "Yaoyorozu, can you make an oxygen mask?"

She flipped through her encyclopedia with inhuman precision and after a quick scan of a particular page, produced a small canister of oxygen with an attached mask.

"Turn the flow on but keep it low. Hagakure, hold the mask over the child's face. Hopefully this wakes them up but if it doesn't then we'll have to start CPR. If that still doesn't work then hopefully an ambulance shows up soon. Midoriya, Sero, keep the parent back, we don't need them getting in the way."

He then looked up at All Might, who was watching them attempt to resuscitate a crash dummy.

"I hope you realize that I feel really, really dumb administering oxygen to a dummy."

"You look dumb too, if that helps." Kacchan supplied.

"Shockingly, it does not."

All Might started frantically flipping through a small notebook and muttering.

"No, no there's nothing in here about this at all. I'll have to ask Thirteen about this." he then glanced up to see his students looking at him expectantly, "Right! Well. Good response time! As I said, rescue situations are unpredictable! You must be able to adapt to the situation and you all have clearly done that! I am not a medical professional, but you certainly seem to have a handle on the emergency treatment!"

"Sensei, has something gone wrong?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Well…" All Might spoke hesitantly, "…sort of. To be perfectly honest with you all, I was never briefed on the possibility of children factoring in to this particular exercise. I think the dummy, er, the Faux Civilian might be malfunctioning. Let's try and get through Yaoyorozu's turn and then we can move on. We are still under a time-constraint, after all."

Yaoyorozu took the gas mask that she had originally produced for Kacchan and donned it herself. She also produced a fire extinguisher and a pair of thick, heat-proof, elbow-length gloves. She entered the building and emerged after only a couple of minutes with the Faux Civilian.

"They were only on the second floor." she explained, "I got off rather easy."

"Well, the unexpected aside, you all did well once again." All Might proclaimed as they made their way to the Flood Zone, "Those of you with ill-matched Quirks were quick to realize your situation and request aid. Practicality is an important part of being a Hero too."

When they got to the Flood Zone, All Might pointed to a ship a few hundred feet off-shore.

"Your next target is that. That ship is sinking and there is a Faux Civilian on-board. It won't actually sink, of course, but I think that adds to the tension, don't you? This time a small boat has been provided for your use." he indicated a small, three or four-person jon boat with a rear-mounted engine.

"Alright, let's get this baby moving!" Sero hopped in and started the engine with a couple of tugs. He made the mistake of going full-throttle right off the bat and causing the engine to stall, necessitating a restart. The second time he was more gradual about it and was able to reach the ship without further incident.

Sero used his tape to scale the side of the ship and rappelled his way back down with the Faux Civilian in tow. After figuring out how to turn the boat, he made it back to shore with time to spare, thoughtfully leaving it running for Tokoyami.

"There are multiple Faux Civilians on the ship, so there is no need to reset them." All Might revealed, "That would take too long."

Sure enough, another crash test dummy was standing on the deck, waving its arms.

Tokoyami was even quicker than Sero. He never even had to leave the boat, simply sending Dark Shadow up to retrieve the Faux Civilian and then turning around and returning to shore. When it was Todoroki's turn, he was about to touch the water before he turned to All Might.

"My plan is to freeze the water out to where the ship is. At that point it won't be sinking anymore and the Faux Civilian can escape at their leisure. Thawing it out might take some time though, so can we just call this good?"

All Might considered this for a moment.

"If it helps, Sensei," Hagakure said, "I don't think he's bluffing. He showed off some crazy power with his Quirk before. He even made a giant wall of ice!"

Izuku nodded. He remembered that. It was certainly impressive.

"Very well then." All Might nodded, "As your plan is a sound one and your classmates maintain that you are quite capable of such a feat, I will give you a pass in the interest of saving time. That means Hagakure is up."

"Whee~" the invisible girl shot off towards the ship and circled around it, seemingly looking for something. She vanished on the other side of it and then, a couple of minutes later, emerged with the Faux Civilian in her boat.

"What did you do?" Sero asked in disbelief.

"Hmm? Oh, I just had the civilian use the pilot ladder while I held it in place." when she received blank looks she continued, "The pilot ladder? The ladder that goes off the side of almost every ship? Kinda dangerous but still beats jumping off the side?"

Well, Izuku had learned something today. From their reactions, so had everyone except for Yaoyorozu.

Before Kacchan departed, All Might stopped him.

"Bakugo, my boy. I know that technically this ship is supposed to be sinking, but that excuse of 'it was coming down anyway' will not fly here, okay?"

"Fine, fine." ***vroom***

In the absence of anything flashier, Kacchan apparently had decided to use Hagakure's ladder strategy, as did Izuku and Yaoyorozu after him.

Hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Next was the Downpour Zone which, while it looked like an innocent dome on the outside, was cold and wet and miserable on the inside.

Izuku had never had a _problem_ with rain per-se, but when it was coming down sideways in sheets that stung his face amidst howling wind and prompted him to put his respirator on to try and get some relief, he found himself being not particularly fond of it.

Poor Hagakure though.

"I don't wanna be here anymore!"

Izuku felt for the poor girl, he really did. It was about that time that he noticed that the thick rain was impacting her form and trailing down it in rivulets. He could sort of make out the basic features of her face as well as…everything else.

"Yaoyorozu, would you please make her a poncho or something?"

Izuku snapped his mouth shut, having been beaten to the punch by _Todoroki_ of all people. Yaoyorozu took one look, understood the situation immediately, and produced a hooded, yellow poncho.

"Yaomomo-chan, have I told you that I love you?"

"You're welcome, Hagakure-chan."

" _Ah, right. Can you all hear me?"_ All Might's voice emanated from nearby speakers. He had taken his leave when they arrived to head to an observation room. Izuku took note that this likely served the dual purpose of allowing him some time to un-transform and recover, _"I think I may have accessed the wrong speakers the first couple of times. In any case, I believe that I should be able to control the conditions inside the dome from here, but for the life of me…"_

"OH SHIT!" Kacchan tackled Izuku moments before a bolt of lightning struck the ground where he had just been standing.

" _Ah. No. Definitely_ not _that one. Going to put a sticky note there. Now, let's see, what about…"_

"Ow!"

"Sero-san, what's the ma- ouch!"

"What are you dumbasses do- OW, FUCK!"

It had started to hail.

" _Oh, dear. Let me turn that off. Which one was it again?"_

 ***KROOOM***

"ALL MIGHT!"

" _No, that was the lightning again. These are really bad sticky notes."_

"Fuck this, I'm outta here!"

"I second that!"

"Wait a minute, where's the door?"

"What do you _mean_ 'where's the door?!'"

"I mean the door's gone, Kacchan! It was here and now it isn't!"

"Deku, I swear to _god_ if you're fucking with me right now- OW!"

" _Now,_ how _on earth did that happen? Kids, try and find some cover until I can figure out this infernal contraption."_

"No. NO! FUCK THIS! I'M GONNA BLOW A GODDAMN HOLE IN-" ***KROOOM***

"Oh, god HE GOT BAKUGO! RETREAT!"

" _I must say it's very relieving to know that this lightning machine is set to 'stun.' Perhaps if I adjust this dial here…"_

"Todo, _I don't wanna die!_ "

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

A solid half-hour later, the drenched and shivering seven stepped out of the hell-dome to behold All Might back in his muscle form scratching his head anxiously.

"…Would it help if I said you all got A's on this portion?"

They all stared at each other, made a wordless, unanimous agreement to ignore this and trudged off towards the Ruins Zone.

* * *

 **Can you tell that I'm a fan of "Teaching for Dummies" All Might? There's a punchline to this joke that I hope you'll all enjoy...NEXT CHAPTER!**

 **Also, in case I didn't rave about it enough up-top, TORCHBEARER HAS A TVTROPES PAGE! If you want to contribute, then feel free.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	25. Chapter 25: Prometheus

**Well, we went and did it. Torchbearer has officially broken 1,000 Follows. I just don't have the words to describe how amazing this is, probably partially because I currently have a head cold that's making me a bit fuzzy. That's also why this week's chapter is shorter than usual. Sorry about that.**

 **Review time:**

 **angelMwings, Engineer of Epicness, origamishishou, Guest : People catching the Mr Incredible reference.**

 **Shade11224:** **I will neither ignore this nor brush it off. It deserves a proper response. Firstly, you are arguing that a world that runs on anime logic makes no sense. I agree completely. You know what else doesn't make sense? A fifteen year-old being able to dead-lift a car after only ten months of training, yet here we are. Toughness and physical strength are NOT the same thing. As anyone who has taken a nasty hit to the head can tell you (hi there) there is a huge mental aspect to staying standing after taking a hit that hurts. I.e., guts is actually a thing that matters and Kirishima has this in spades.**

 **Additionally, you understand far less about Momo, and indeed fighting in general, than you claim. If you understood fighting at all, you would understand that speed and technique trump raw power any day. Go on Youtube and watch bodybuilders or wrestlers fight boxers or MMA fighters sometime. Even if we ignore this for a moment, Momo, both here and in canon, placed number one in the Quirk Assessment, rendering your argument about her not being in peak physical form null and void. She clearly knows how to balance her training and her diet in order to use her Quirk efficiently, as any intelligent person would. Your point about the so-called "typical fit male teen" is pure ignorance. As someone who was seriously involved in martial arts as a "fit male teen" I can tell you one-hundred percent that I would never have wanted to fight the master's wife. That little old lady would have destroyed me.**

 **To cap this off, I would never call canon Izuku "weak" by any stretch of the imagination. Indeed, I layed out Torchbearer Izuku's reasons for placing where he did both in the Quirk Assessment and in Fight Club. Also, we have no evidence that canon Kirishima only started training after the middle school incident. It is possible, nay _probable,_ that he simply ramped it up. Besides, if it comes to that then I need simply state the obvious: This is not canon Kirishima.**

 **I do not mean to say that your argument holds no merit. It is a solid argument at its core, but you didn't do your homework when you made your points. C-minus.**

 **Jack Inqu : I too enjoy thinking about how various Quirks can change people's everyday lives. Tooru is certainly an excellent example of this.**

 **bhennen : We'll have to see with Monoma. It all depends on the situation with him. Obviously his Quirk would be useless against someone like Eraserhead for example. 1-A will certainly develop in different ways than in canon, even if there are similarities.**

 **Mrguy22594 : It was not. I always intended to have them come back to USJ. I did enjoy that OVA though.**

 **Death of Snipers : I agree, which is why I did it XD I also agree that Dark Shadow would not be useless in such a situation, but neither would he have enough range to do all that much. Remember that USJ is also brightly-lit, so the lighting conditions are less favorable than, say, the Summer Camp battle when it was at least nighttime. As for Momo, she probably did that after getting over the initial shock and I just didn't show it. Feel free to make that canon.**

 **Midnight Angels Say GoodNight : I do not currently have any shipping plans for Shoji, though this could be subject to change. I had a similar thought as to you and decided that in an alternate continuity he is a raging sex god (remember, he can swap his hands out for _any_ body part), but not this one. I too enjoy Tooru and Shoto's interactions.**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r : Shout-out for the bunch of reviews! It's always cool to see people's thoughts as they go through the fic.**

The 0bservanc3 **: No worries, you're not being charged late fees XD I enjoy going in-depth with things like Tooru's Quirk. I just find it legitimately interesting. Shoto's training was indeed intense. We'll probably see a bit of it eventually. The eye-contact thing _will_ be addressed in the future, rest assured. As for the failures of the Heroes thing, I do believe that is how a veteran such as All Might would see things, though after so long he has most likely developed some coping mechanisms. I agree with the sentiment that Shoji is often underused.**

 **You are correct about All Might's time limit, though I state in Chapter nineteen that it is more like 2 hours 15 mins as of right now. This is partly due to natural degradation and partly due to him going full-power against Nomu. HUC is indeed utilized for Hero Academy work, though they are usually reserved for third-years in my canon. I would imagine that there is a company that specializes in making things like the Faux Civilians. There would be a market for that, I'd think.**

 **The methods used to determine if/how much is deducted from a Pro's pay for collateral damage is iffy at best. I think that, with a few exceptions, that will fall under the category of "it's not fun to think about so I won't think about it that much." We honestly haven't seen much of this in canon which makes me think that the author has similar thoughts on the matter. Yaomomo's encyclopedia is indeed unique. It is made to include the information that is useful for her, such as molecular composition. As for Golden Week, I'll have to do more research into that to see what exactly it entails.**

 **grahamgarrett_powerofanime, sremiehzla, avidreaded, uchihaNaruto247, Reverseflash, Voltrike92, Draxsis Felhunter, MIKE202303, Xx15PinstripesxX, Dark Murcielago, ILiekFishes, NPGamer11, Engineer of Epicness, Sentinel07, SeanHicks4, Ghost 501 and everyone else: thank you for your support and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, back to where we left off last time! Sorry again for the short chapter. I'mma go to sleep now.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five: Prometheus

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

"Now, now, Eraserhead, I'm sure there's a valid explanation for this. Besides, it all worked out in the end, right? That is, except for the Downpour Zone."

"Thirteen, if he had possessed even the _slightest_ amount of rationality, he would have realized that neither of us had someone like Yaoyorozu in our groups. He would have then questioned exactly _how_ they were supposed to have rescued their Faux Civilians if they had zero access to any form of basic equipment."

Toshinori Yagi, currently in his muscle form, suddenly felt about thirty years younger. It was as though he were a young man again watching his master and Gran Torino debate the best way to punish him for his most recent blunder.

His group had made it through the Ruins Zone and Landslide Zone without incident, though they were certainly still miffed at him for his admittedly spectacular failure in the Downpour Zone. They had made their way to the central plaza as instructed and once the class was all together again, Toshinori had pulled Aizawa and Thirteen aside to pick their brains a little. He had explained the judgement calls he had made as well as the reasons for them and asked for feedback from his colleagues.

What he had _not_ expected was for Aizawa's eye to start twitching and for Thirteen to be struck completely dumb.

"I beg your pardon," Toshinori piped up, desperate to gain some semblance of understanding as to just what he had apparently missed, "but do you mean to say that there _was_ equipment provided for the students?"

Aizawa, who looked like he was about ready to start foaming at the mouth, gestured for Thirteen to explain.

"You see, All Might," Thirteen began with the air of someone who was trying to break bad news as gently as possible, "each zone has a cache of equipment by the entrance that is designed to facilitate exactly the sorts of training exercises that we have been performing today. These are designed to blend in with the environment in order to add realism, but they are all very simple to find once you know about them."

Toshinori opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find a way to bring up the fact that he did not, in fact, know about these equipment caches without sounding like a complete moron. Aizawa took the matter out of his hands when he suddenly facepalmed, taking a moment to groan in pain before he started speaking.

"Thirteen, he wasn't at the briefing, remember?"

"Briefing?" Toshinori was getting more and more confused, "When was this?"

"Last Wednesday, before class." Thirteen supplied, "At that time every teacher was informed about various things within USJ, the supply caches included. We hold such meetings a few times a year when I move things around in here a bit to keep it fresh. You were not there because, ah…"

"Because you were busy doing other Heroes' jobs for them." Aizawa bluntly concluded.

 _And burning through my transformation time._

Aizawa had not made the statement outright, but Toshinori caught the unsaid reprimand just fine. He tactfully did not bring this topic up himself either, as he knew for a fact that two of his students had enhanced hearing and a third was invisible.

Wait…that meant that his students were probably listening to him getting chewed out.

Well, he supposed that he deserved it after the Downpour Zone and the unused equipment and the-

"Wait a moment!" Toshinori suddenly remembered, "What about the child in the Conflagration Zone?"

"Oh, that?" Thirteen had not seemed the slightest bit surprised when he brought it up earlier, so it had slipped Toshinori's mind momentarily, but it had never actually been explained, "The Faux Civilians are programmed to reset either in the most recently-used facility or the next-closest one. In the Conflagration Zone in particular, different buildings are assigned different difficulty levels. My guess would be that the building in question was level two or three. Usually I don't throw children into the mix until second-year or perhaps as a wild-card for first-year finals."

"It was fortunate that it was Midoriya who got hit with that." Aizawa reflected, "His costume and Quirk are tailor-made for the Conflagration Zone. It may all be supervised but we shouldn't forget that there's an element of real danger. You can't fake a burning building, after all."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Wait, you guys went through each of those venues _without_ using the equipment?!" Jiro demanded incredulously from where she was eavesdropping on the teacher's conversation with the aid of her Quirk.

"W-well," Izuku was getting flustered from all of the attention his group was getting, "it's not like we didn't have _any_ equipment. Yaoyorozu-san was kind enough to provide us with some essentials."

"Tell the whole story, Deku." Kacchan interjected, "We got bonus points if we went in without any extra equipment and I can tell you all right now, there's two people here that never used a single piece outside of their own shit."

"Bet we can all guess who one of them was eh, Bakubro?" Kirishima grinned.

"No, actually." Kacchan shrugged, "I used a gas mask for the Conflagration Zone. Didn't feel like inhaling all that smoke."

"Wow, that was gonna be my first guess too." Kaminari stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Ooh, ooh!" Hagakure's shoes were bouncing up and down while one of her gloves waved wildly in the air, "Can I say one of them? Can I?" without waiting for permission she presented Todoroki to the onlookers, "Ta-dah! It was Todo! He just used his ice to rescue every single one of his targets except for the one from the Downpour Zone but we'renotgonnatalkaboutthatbecauseitwasatotaldisaster."

"Well, no surprises there." Ashido commented.

"Indeed." Iida wiped his brow, having removed his helmet, "I would hazard a guess that the other was Yaoyorozu-san, then? It stands to reason that, as her Quirk allows her to produce nearly any equipment that she would require, that she would qualify."

"You're correct, Iida-san." Yaoyorozu smiled a bit sheepishly, "It really does feel like a technicality though; I _was_ still using equipment, it was just of my own making."

"I mean," Uraraka said thoughtfully, "if you're gonna think about it that way, then isn't the Hero system just one big technicality?"

"Uraraka-san!" Iida burst out seemingly on reflex, "That is an incredibly dangerous way of thinking! Why, it almost makes you sound like a Vigilante!"

"That's what I'm talking about though!" Uraraka insisted, "Think about it: if a Hero saves someone and a Vigilante saves someone, then what's the difference?"

"Well," Izuku saw where she was going and decided to keep the ball rolling, "assuming they both used their Quirks to do so, then the actions of the Vigilante would have been illegal because they didn't have a Hero License."

"Right! See? Technicality." Uraraka shrugged, "At the end of the day, they both saved someone. They might even have stopped a Villain to do it, but one of them gets praised while the other gets arrested."

"By that logic, laws in general are nothing more than technicalities, Uraraka-san." Tokoyami stated, "We must be careful how we view things. After all, if the ends justify the means no matter the case then you must consider murder to be acceptable, no? What better way to ensure that a Villain never harms another soul?"

"Sometimes Heroes aren't given a choice." Kacchan pointed out.

"Yeah, but you know that's not what she was laying down." Jiro debated, "You're taking her beat and remixing it."

"There is one key point in all of this that you're failing to consider." Todoroki piped up, much to everyone's surprise, "Those who become licensed, Pro Heroes, in other words, have one more key difference between them and everyone else: they get paid for their services. They have the financial ability to treat Heroism as a full-time occupation."

"That's right!" Izuku seconded, "The first generation of Heroes were technically Vigilantes since there wasn't a legal system in place to regulate their activities yet. This also meant that there was no way for them go make money doing it unless they were being paid under the table by a private citizen or something. The concept of being a full-time Hero just wasn't feasible unless you were independently wealthy or had someone else covering your living expenses."

"Indeed." Iida continued, "The government wisely saw the value in the idea of institutionalized Heroism and so they hand-picked who they saw as the most desirable Vigilantes and offered them what essentially amounted to a government sponsorship. They were free to use their Quirks within certain limits in the service of their community. Namely, assisting in disaster relief, search and rescue, patrolling and, of course, fighting against Villains. Unfortunately for many, this also included their former-comrades in the form of those Vigilantes who had not been sponsored."

"Yeah, it sucked to be those guys." Kacchan pointed out, "There weren't any legal grey-areas to this: either you were government-sponsored or you weren't. If you weren't, then any Quirk usage was considered illegal, whether it was Heroic or not. Legally, you were just as much a Villain as, well, the Villains. The fucked-up thing about this was that it forced a lot of Vigilantes into becoming full-on Villains, especially the ones who were a bit more extreme in their treatment of justice as they saw it. There were more than a few who, just like Birdman said, saw murder as the ideal way to cleanse the world of Villainy. 'Burn away the corruption and let a clean new world rise from the ashes,' wasn't it?"

"Ah!" Izuku recognized the quote, "That line's credited to Prometheus, the first recorded holder of a Fire Quirk!"

"Prometheus, the one who brought fire down to mankind, huh…" Yaoyorozu said almost to herself, "A fitting name, since he also became credited as the first Supervillain."

"There's some debate as to whether he chose that name himself or if it was given to him by others later." Izuku explained, "It's generally accepted that he was originally a Vigilante, but turned to Villainy when his former comrades, now government-sponsored Heroes, were given orders to hunt him down and arrest him. His ideology was just too violent to mesh with modern society."

"There's one thing I don't get though." Kaminari raised his hand from his place in the semi-circle of students that had developed in front of the speakers providing this impromptu history lesson, "Yaomomo said that this guy was the first Supervillain, right? Well, why him? What's the difference between a Villain and a Supervillain anyway? They're all Villains at the end of the day, aren't they?"

"That's a stupid question, Prez." Kacchan scoffed, "By that logic you'd say that All Might is just another Hero, same as someone like, I dunno, Backdraft, Death Arms or Manual, right? No fucking way. He's in a class all his own compared to them. In other words, he's a Superhero. Get it?"

"So," Kirishima crossed his arms, looking intrigued, "you're saying that, way back when, this guy was in a league of his own among Villains. He must have been legit powerful then, yeah?"

"Powerful enough to make his way into the history books, Ribbit." Tsuyu pointed out, "Though, I don't think it was just about that. The fact that he's both the first recorded Fire Quirk holder as well as the first Supervillain seems like kind of a big coincidence, doesn't it?"

"It does indeed, Asui, my girl." All Might, Aizawa and Thirteen had joined the conversation, "In fact, Fire Quirks had quite a bit of stigma associated with them for a while, thanks in no small part to Prometheus. It only really died out with my generation, so it's not surprising that kids your age don't really know about it."

"You talk like you're an old man, All Might-sensei." Ashido giggled, "How old are you anyway?"

"Hmm? I shall be fifty in a couple months."

"He's…older than I thought." Hagakure stage-whispered.

Izuku privately agreed. He had thought that All Might was in his forties, but had not realized that the man was pushing fifty! It was kind of like how Kacchan was almost always the oldest student in their year even though he didn't look it. His birthday was in mid-April after all.

What day was it again? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…April eighteenth.

Wait, _eighteenth_?!

Oh, _shit_.

Kacchan's birthday was in two days and Izuku had _completely_ forgotten. This was bad. This was very bad. He needed to come up with something! He usually started planning what he was going to do at least a week or two in advance so that he could cycle through ideas and work things out with his mom and Mitsuki. Two days…he couldn't plan something in two days!

Help. He needed help. Who could he ask?

Wait. Idea. That could work. Not now though. After class.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

 _You have created the group: Emergency! Panic Mode! Added 4 members._

All Might: Everyone! This is bad! I need your help!

Glasses: Midoriya-san! What has happened?!

Star: Deku-kun are you okay?!

Octopus: What can we do?

Potato: WHERE IS CRIME?!

All Might: Kacchan's birthday is on Saturday and I forgot and I have no idea what to do pleasehelpme!

Star: Oh no!

Potato: wait, is this that big a deal? i forget friends' birthdays all the time.

Star: This is different, Kirishima-san! They've been friends for, like, EVER. Total besties!

Octopus: When you put it that way, this does sound serious.

Glasses: I concur. What manner of aid do you require, Midoriya-san?

All Might: Well, I don't know what to do for him. Usually I take some time to figure out something fun to do and organize it with our moms, but there's no time for that this year! I need…ideas? Organizational help?

Potato: i want in.

All Might: What?

Potato: whatever u guys are doing. i wanna hang.

Star: That's a good idea! We should all do something for Bakugo-san together!

Glasses: A capital idea!

All Might: I don't want to impose on you guys…

Octopus: Midoriya-san, Bakugo-san is our friend too. Of course we would want to be involved.

Potato: yeah, right?

Potato: brb getting advice from the expert.

Glasses: An expert? On what?

Star: Birthdays?

All Might: Did Kirishima-san mention knowing someone like that?

Potato: kk so first thing we need is to figure out a budget and decide on some possible activities.

All Might: Well, Kacchan likes spicy food, so each year I always try to incorporate that somehow.

Star: I'm sure I can figure out an affordable restaurant that has some good spicy stuff!

Potato: can't go wrong with a movie. i'll check what's playing. expert suggests arcade. u can kill time there without spending too much if money becomes an issue.

Octopus: I can keep a spare eye on the local newsfeeds just in case there is any Hero activity. Catching a live incident would be both educational and entertaining while also being free.

Glasses: I confess to not being one who often goes out on the town, so I will simply provide what funding I am able to. Do you think about 20,000 yen would help?

Star: a;sdlkd;lkasdmvs;lk

Potato: holy shit dude

Glasses: What? Is it too little? I suppose I could ask for an advance on my allowance.

Star: NO

Star: Iida-san…that's just way too generous. You don't have to give that much.

All Might: Seriously! That's just…

Octopus: It is a significant amount considering the situation.

Glasses: Ah, I see. I did not mean to…flaunt. Nevertheless, as I am contributing precious little to the overall plan, I feel that it is only right that I at least contribute financially. I would sooner have money not be a concern for our plans.

All Might: If that's how you feel, then thank you, Iida-san. We will accept your contribution. In fact, why don't we put Uraraka-san in charge of budgeting? She knows the area and has a good idea of how much things cost, since she lives on her own.

Potato: for real? i didn't know that. i'm good with that. i can probably pitch in about 3,500 yen.

Octopus: A good idea. I can contribute 3,000.

All Might: I can do 3,000 too.

Star: If that's what you want, Deku-kun, then sure, I'll handle the budget! Though…I can't contribute that much. Maybe…1,500 yen? I'm sorry.

All Might: Don't worry about it, Uraraka-san. This isn't a contest.

Glasses: Indeed! Do not get yourself down over such a trivial matter.

Potato: ^

Octopus: I concur.

Star: Thanks guys. Well, if we add this up then we have a total of 31,000 yen, which breaks down to 5,000 yen and change for each of us and Bakugo-san. I don't think we'll have any issues buying movie tickets and lunch with that! We should even have a little bit left over for the arcade!

All Might: That's great! Tell you what, each of you figure out a good place for your suggestion and get back to me. I'll work up a schedule for us. That means Uraraka-san for lunch and Kirishima-san for the movie and the arcade. Shoji-san's thing will kind of be on-the-fly.

Potato: roger that boss-man.

Star: I'll let you know, Deku-kun!

Izuku slumped back on the couch, letting out a long sigh. It would be alright. He had a plan now. Not for the first time he considered just how thankful he was for his friends.

 ***vmmm vmmm***

Izuku picked up his phone, expecting another message in the group chat. He was surprised, therefore, to see All Might's number.

" _Midoriya, my boy, if you are agreeable, I would like to hold your first extra training session at USJ tomorrow after class. I have secured all of the necessary permissions, so you don't need to worry about that."_

If Izuku was being completely honest with himself, he had nearly forgotten about that. He hurriedly responded.

" _Yes! I can do that!"_

 ***vmmm vmmm***

" _Very good. Make sure to bring your Hero Costume. I will text you with our meeting place tomorrow."_

It was, Izuku decided, even more fortunate than he had realized that he had the assistance of his friends in planning Kacchan's birthday.

He was probably going to be extremely tired after the following day, after all.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku sat in the teacher's lounge, alone and waiting. All Might had informed him that he was wrapping up with a short faculty meeting and would meet him there afterwards.

Excusing himself from his customary trip home with Kacchan and the others had been tricky. In the end, he had managed to convince Kacchan that he was undergoing remedial Quirk training to help him handle the backlash better, which was not altogether untrue. Predictably, he had been asked if his friends could offer their services in some way. He didn't have a good reason to give them and simply said that this was something he felt that he had to do on his own. Kacchan had given him a bit of the evil eye as he left and Uraraka appeared unconvinced, but it was Shoji of all people who had convinced them to leave it alone after extracting a promise from Izuku that he would come to them if he needed anything.

Izuku was honestly getting tired of the half-truths. He knew it was necessary in order to protect All Might's secret and the secret of One For All, but it was a necessity that he cursed nonetheless.

The door opened and All Might entered in his muscle form.

"My apologies for the wait, my boy. The principal may be a genius but he can be rather long-winded at times."

"Oh, no, sir." Izuku shook his head, "From the beginning, you're doing this for my benefit so the least I can do is make sure it doesn't get in the way of anything."

All Might ruffled Izuku's hair as he guided him out the door.

"It wouldn't kill you to be a little bit selfish every now and then, you know?"

"Speak for yourself. Are you sure you're alright to be walking around in your muscle form?"

"I still have some time left today. Besides, I will revert once we board the bus."

Sure enough, All Might did just that before sitting down across the isle from Izuku.

"So, what do you intend to focus on first, my boy?"

Izuku took a moment to consider.

"Well, I think I should spend some time working on controlling my exact output when I've got a full tank. It's really easy to accidentally use too much, especially in the heat of the moment. Plus, I need to get better at gauging exactly how much I have in reserve. Repeatedly expending all of my fuel and then refilling should help with that naturally. I also can't neglect Flame Magnet, so I should practice more on manipulating large amounts of fire at once with it. If I can get to the point where I can simultaneously use Flame Magnet and One For All, then that should increase my repertoire as well."

"In short, you want to start with the basics and improve your overall foundation first. A wise policy."

Izuku grinned.

"Well, I can't take all the credit. This is the same type of thing that you had me doing before, remember? Building myself up so I can use my Quirk without worrying."

All Might let out a bark of laughter that was followed shortly thereafter by a spray of blood.

"Hah…as you say, my boy."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku stood in front of the now-familiar inferno that comprised the Conflagration Zone. He had done a few warm-up exercises and now he was ready to try something that he had been working on since before he had started at U.A.

 _Focus the attraction point into the tips of your fingers, but don't cement it there. Keep things loose. Any lapse in concentration and this won't work._

Izuku extended his right hand towards the burning building in front of him and activated Flame Magnet with a middling amount of force. Too little would be pointless, while too much might be too difficult. As desired, a torrent of flames rushed towards him, coalescing into a shapeless blob as he adjusted the strength of the "magnet." By the time the fire was nearly upon him, Izuku had nearly halved the initial force. By virtue of the amount of fire he had summoned, it was still moving at a decent clip.

Time to start phase two.

Izuku brought his arm around in a large, looping motion, turning his body roughly forty-five degrees as he did so. The fire followed his arm's trajectory, circling his body at arm's length. So far, so good, but now was the tricky part.

 _Keep cool. All you're doing is the same thing, but on the other side and all at once._

 _With a bit of extra "oomph" of course._

Izuku brought his left hand back to touch the fingertips of his right. In that moment, he cancelled the attraction point on his right hand and activated an identical attraction point on his left.

"Smash!"

He then pushed Flame Magnet up to full power for the instant that it took him to make a violent forehand swipe with his left. At the furthest point of his motion, Izuku cancelled Flame Magnet completely, causing the suddenly-condensed glob of flames to shoot forward and violently dissipate in a reaction that resembled nothing so much as a minor explosion.

The theory behind the technique was simple, even if the technique itself was incredibly difficult to do properly. Izuku would attract fire towards him, condense it using a surge of Flame Magnet at a precise attraction point, accelerate it using One For All, shut off Flame Magnet and let physics do the rest. With nothing holding it together anymore, the fire would expand outwards while maintaining its velocity.

Voila. Poor-man's Explosion. Kacchan would either be impressed or pissed.

The best part was that the technique didn't consume any fuel. In fact, if he timed it right, Izuku could probably let the explosion happen and then devour the resulting fireball. Two birds with one stone.

Hell, in theory he could keep recycling the same fire over and over again as long as he managed to ignite something new each time he used it.

Baby steps.

"I daresay you've just created a new move, my boy." All Might said appreciatively, "Have you thought of a name for it?"

"Well, I could just name it 'Explosion' to annoy Kacchan."

"You could. I would advise against it though."

"I can't very well make it a Smash, since I deliberately keep my usage of One For All to a minimum while using it."

"Try a different angle then, my boy. In what context do you see this move most often being used?"

Izuku thought about that.

 _Well, it'd be most effective if I've already got fire headed towards me, so it could be a counter to other Fire Quirks? Flame Counter, maybe? No, that's not right. It's not_ exclusively _for that, after all. I'm taking fire and redirecting it back towards its source, so…_

"How about 'Reflect Fire?'"

"Hmm…" All Might mused, "'Reflect' for the initial windup and then a quick, sharp 'Fire' for the finish? Yes. Yes, that could work."

"What are you talking about, All Might?"

"My boy, do you know the purpose of naming one's Super Moves?"

"The point…well, it's because it sounds cool and inspires confidence, right? It's for marketing and appeal."

"To an extent, yes, but there is also a far more utilitarian use for it as well." All Might held up a finger, "My boy, are you familiar with the use of mnemonic devices?"

"Those are used to help people remember things, right? Like 'Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally' for the order of operations."

"Correct. Due to the fact that many Super Moves involve a complex series of steps that often need to be carried out instantaneously, learning to associate the name of one's Super Move with those motions can make it easier to carry them out. Often the associated actions align with the name of the move when spoken aloud. For instance, you may have noticed that all of my Smashes have two-word names. Detroit Smash, Oklahoma Smash, etc. This is because they all have two steps to them: wind-up and release."

All Might cocked his fist back "Texas…" and then punched forward with it "Smash! You see, my boy?"

Izuku was beginning to understand.

"I see! So you mean that if I time my movements with the name of the move, then I can eventually learn to do it without thinking!"

"It will be difficult at first." All Might cautioned, "Your first instinct will be to focus entirely on the move and maintain your silence, but you must not do this! You must form the correct habit from the start. Having to break it down and re-learn it later will be far more challenging than just doing it all at the same time from the get-go."

"I understand." Izuku nodded, mouth set in a determined frown. "I'll do my best to learn good habits!"

"Very good, my boy. Well, I can still spare another fifty minutes or so. Why don't you spend the rest of today's session getting that move drilled into your head? I'll give you a minute for the first ten attempts, then fifty seconds, then forty, then thirty and so on. Eventually I want to see you being able to fire Reflect Fire off seamlessly. Left, right, hook, Reflect Fire. Something like that. That's when a move becomes usable in a real fight, you understand? We're going to be switching hands with each attempt too. This should also help to improve your overall control over Flame Magnet."

And there was that All Mightian training from hell that Izuku had missed so much. He wasn't about to complain though; it had worked wonders for him so far, after all.

"Reflect Fire!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku wasn't complaining.

He _was_ , however, extremely thirsty and feeling a little crispy around the edges as, while he had suffered no burns during his training, it had gotten very, very hot.

All Might had been pleased with the day's progress. While fifty minutes had not been enough time for Izuku to be able to use Reflect Fire without thinking, he _had_ managed to reduce the necessary "casting" time to three seconds. The mnemonic device had indeed worked wonders.

Now, he just needed to get a drink, take a shower and go over his plans for tomorrow one final time.

No rest for the weary it seemed. Oh well, he would get used to it. Besides, this was a special occasion.

It wasn't every day one's best friend turned sixteen, after all.

* * *

 **Next time: Katsuki's birthday!**

 **My question for you all this time is a simple one: What movie should they take him to see? This doesn't have to be a real movie either. Feel free to invent something like "Killgore Deathmurder Part III: The Deathening" or something. The one I like most will get used and most likely have a short blurb written about it in the chapter of the characters reacting to it.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	26. Chapter 26: Dense and Stubborn

**We broke 500 reviews this week, so that's awesome. I also got over my sickness, so this chapter is about 1,000 words longer than the last one, so I'm feeling good about that.**

 **Review time:**

 **avidreaded, NPGamer11, uchihaNaruto247, Moon of Hell, Reverseflash, Jack Redhawke, zZ Sky Ninja Zz, MarvelNinja10, hrisi292, bigdogneversleeps, Mrguy22594, Malchior, porpoise lord, Rusty Thebanite, BloodySS2God, bens6757, SeanPennname, AlphaMiner64, Movie Night, Guest, HemaG, The 0bservanc3, Twain apprentice : Thank you for all of the movie suggestions! I think this was the most successful pseudo-poll we've had yet! I did my best to incorporate as many of the ideas as I could. Even if I didn't use your idea, I still appreciate it! Thank you all!  
**

 **Reverseflash : I won't say exactly when he'll get Full Cowl, but it will happen a bit sooner than in canon and it won't just come out of nowhere. He'll build up to it a bit first.**

 **dragonightmare : I'm glad you are enjoying the slice-of-life stuff. This is one of the big things I wanted to do that will make Torchbearer different (dare I say better?) than canon story-wise.**

 **Jack Inqu : I'm glad that you appreciate the moral grey area involved with differentiating Heroes, Villains, Vigilantes, etc. I'm also glad that you like my explanation for calling the names of one's attacks. This is actually something I thought up years ago while I was wondering "why do they do that?"**

 **Gokuu the Carrot : Happy Birthday!**

 **Twain apprentice : I appreciate your continued work on the TvTropes page. It certainly does seem that things are progressing this way for Dabi, doesn't it? Unfortunately, by the time you posted this, the chapter was already complete. Thank you for the movie suggestion all the same! Also that's a bummer about the hiatus. I didn't know about that.  
**

 **The 0bservanc3 : I have no honest idea why that happened. Sometimes I have to fight with the formatting to make it underline and bold at the same time, so maybe that's what it was?**

 **Your understanding is indeed understandable. As for being labeled as a Superhero or a Supervillain, it's mainly just an indicator that you stand above the normal bounds. All Might is a Superhero because he's so much more powerful and influential than the vast majority of other Heroes. He is a paragon of Heroism that many Heroes and wannabe Heroes attempt to emulate. Similarly, All For One is a Supervillain not only because of his immense power, but because of his ability to rally others to his cause and what have you. You are correct that being a Superhero/Supervillain will certainly get your name into the history books.**

 **As for changing the attraction point, he's been able to do that for a while. We first saw him do it when he ate fire for the first time in Chapter Six, I believe. He also mentioned that he was working on it once or twice, though I don't remember exactly when. As for the name "Reflect Fire," I actually said it in Engrish so it's more like "Refurecuto Fiyah" which rolls off of the tongue much more nicely then using the actual "L" sound. I just didn't want to be one of those people who includes Engrish in their text because it's tough to read.**

 **UnholyTomahawk : I will be hinting at Full Cowling before he actually uses it, but I will say that he will get it sooner than he does in canon. I'm glad that you're enjoying the class dynamics. For sure there are certain groups that naturally form and they will all interact over time, but I'm trying to make it feel organic and not forced. I totally agree that future events will play out a bit differently due in no small part to the stronger bonds between classmates.**

 **bhennen, D3lph0xL0v3r, Run0nSentences, Sentinel07 and everyone else: Thank you for your support and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, it's birthday time with an unexpected guest!  
**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six: Dense and Stubborn

Katsuki Bakugo was surprised. Well and truly surprised. Not because Deku had planned something for his birthday and told him to be at a certain place at a certain time (in this case, the exterior of a movie theater around nine-fifteen in the morning), nor that he was extremely tight-lipped about the details; Deku did something for him every year even though he constantly told him that he didn't have to.

Katsuki liked it though. It was nice to know that Deku cared, even if he already knew that he did. Plus, his ideas were never bad ones. He knew Katsuki well enough to know what he would and wouldn't like.

No, the surprise came when he had arrived at the theater, greeted Deku and then promptly had a pair of pink hands clap themselves over his eyes accompanied by a familiar female voice.

"Happy Birthday, Baku! Guess who!"

"Ashido! I told you not to run ahead and now you've ruined the surprise!" Kirishima sounded out of breath as he approached.

"Oh, I dunno~" Ashido purred playfully, hands still over his eyes, "I think he's pretty surprised, don't you, Midori?"

"Ashido-san, I'm actually pretty surprised too. I mean, I wasn't expecting to see you here." Deku replied.

"Quite so." Iida's voice joined the group, "Am I correct in assuming that you are the 'party expert' that Kirishima-san requested assistance from?"

"That's me! It wasn't hard to guess that Kiri was planning something when he called me up out of the blue and started asking questions about planning a birthday celebration."

"So, of course, she started pestering me until I agreed to bring her along." Kirishima added, "Oh, also, sorry for being late. There were actually a _lot_ of good movies to pick from so I was up late trying to decide."

"Ah, Mina-chan, it's great to see you and all, but-"

"No worries, Ochako-chan! I've got my entrance fee right here!" Ashido shifted so it was her forearm that was obscuring Katsuki's vision and he picked up the distinct sound of money being slapped against the palm of one's hand. He was getting more and more confused.

"Oh, phew. I was worried I'd have to re-calculate some stuff there for a moment."

"It would seem we are all here." Shoji was there too, apparently. Katsuki was getting tired of not being able to see and cleared his throat.

"Okay, fine, I'm surprised. You win. Can you get off of my face now?"

"Suggestive choice of words there, Baku~" she teased before complying with his request.

Predictably, this reduced Deku to a spluttering mess and caused Iida to wave his hands around like a madman. Uraraka went a bit pink but did not otherwise react while Kirishima looked as though he were used to such jokes. Shoji meanwhile was…Shoji.

Really hard to get a read on a guy when half of his face was covered.

As Katsuki blinked to allow his eyes to readjust to the light of day, he took in the group of six people before him. Apart from Deku, who he was used to seeing in street clothes (dark t-shirt and cargo shorts as usual), it was a bit of a novel experience.

Kirishima was no surprise, looking comfortable and casual in a pair of shorts and a red, V-neck short-sleeved shirt which for some reason had "D.J" on the front of it.

Iida was even less of a surprise, looking prim and proper in a sky-blue polo shirt that was tucked into a pair of belted slacks.

Katsuki found himself wondering if Ashido wasn't a little bit cold, since she was wearing a purple tank-top over a pair of denim short-shorts. It wasn't chilly by any means, but it was still only April. Whatever, she seemed happy so she could do her for all he cared.

Uraraka was dressed similarly to how he remembered Deku describing her during the pair's date, except she was wearing a pink short-sleeved wide-necked shirt tucked into her shorts.

Shoji was actually a bit of a surprise. As usual he had his lower face covered with mask, though this one looked like a modified cowl with how it ran down his neck and draped over his shoulders. He was also wearing an off-white tank top tucked into what looked like a pair of green army pants which themselves were tucked into a pair of combat boots.

In short, he looked like he was ready for trouble in spite of his calm demeanor. Katsuki wondered if his choice of attire had anything to do with his height? It must be tough finding clothes that fit him, especially with his extra arms. It was probably either cut off sleeves or have things custom-tailored.

Add in Katsuki with his dark t-shirt and lightweight pants and you had yourself a motley crew of teenagers if he'd ever seen one.

"So, Deku," he addressed his poofy-haired companion, "I assume you've got a plan? Let's hear it."

This had the desired effect of snapping Deku out of his embarrassed state.

"Well, we're starting with a movie, obviously." he indicated the theater, "then after that we're going to lunch and after _that_ we're hitting an arcade. If we find out about any Hero action in the area, then we'll go have a look at that but otherwise…that's pretty much it."

Katsuki nodded thoughtfully. It was simple, sure, but it sounded good. Spending his birthday with a whole group wasn't something he'd done for a while and it could be interesting.

"What's the movie?" Deku pointed towards Kirishima, directing Katsuki's attention to the redhead.

"Oh! Picking one was my job." he explained, "There were a bunch of good options, honestly. I toyed with the idea of 'Bad Guys Finish Last' or 'Pillar' for a bit, but I figured there was a good chance you'd already seen those. There was always the new All Might movie, 'The All and the Mighty,' but that didn't feel right. It was about then that I got the idea to look in the re-run section to see if there were any good oldies and I found a couple of potential winners. The one I ended up going with was 'Killgore Deathmurder Part IV: The Re-Deathening.'"

"That sounds incredibly stupid."

"I know! It'll be one of those 'so bad its good' things!"

"Kiri," Ashido poked his arm, "don't act like you haven't seen it. You were planning this from the start, weren't you?" when the rest of the group looked at her in confusion, she elaborated, "Kiri's really into the old-school. Since Crimson Riot is his idol, he ended up doing some research on the times and ended up watching a ton of old movies. He'll take any chance he can get to show one to somebody."

"Okay, okay, you got me." Kirishima held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, "I promise I haven't seen this one though. I've only seen the first three. I picked this theater because they always run a 'weekend oldies' promotion to try and get people to appreciate old cinema. If you guys are against it, then we can watch something else."

Well, Katsuki hadn't known that. It made sense, when he thought about it; Kirishima did seem to have a bit of an old soul when it came to certain things. It wasn't hard for Katsuki to take things a step further and picture him in a trench coat with a tommy gun.

"Nah." he shook his head, "It's fine. We can watch Killmurder Deathgore or whatever it's called."

"The birthday boy approves!" Ashido stated officially, "Let it be said, let it be written!"

The group made its way into the theater and got in line. Katsuki swore he heard Kirishima say something along the lines of "You're as bad as me when it comes to old horror flicks, Miss 'Alien Queen.'" This earned him a good-natured slap on the arm and Shoji coincidentally developed a small case of the coughs.

Katsuki had avoided asking about money and so was again surprised when _Uraraka_ of all people pulled out a wad of bills and thumbed through them, counting out the cost of the tickets.

Was it just him or was she a little bit _too_ good at that? Had she been practicing?

"It looks like it starts in about twenty minutes." Deku noted, "Where's theater twelve?"

"To the right, by the looks of it." Shoji supplied.

"Anyone want any snacks?" Uraraka asked, "We've got enough for two or three things as long as we share; I didn't count on the weekend ticket discount for the oldies promo."

"As long as it's sweet, I'm happy." Ashido chirped.

"Birthday boy wants something spicy, I bet." Kirishima threw an arm around Katsuki's shoulders and was given a grunt of assent.

They ended up purchasing two family-sized boxes of candies: one full of cinnamon chewables and the other full of small chocolates. They then made their way down the hall Shoji had indicated earlier, passing by large posters advertising other movies, both present and future.

"Hey, 'Death Formula II: Death by Science' is out!" Ashido exclaimed, "The first one was so good but I didn't think they were ever making a second one!"

"Dude!" Kirishima nearly spat out the cinnamon candy he was chewing on, "'Exploding Droids III: Rise of the Megaplosion?!' How the hell did I miss _that?!_ "

"There's a lot of stuff from Mcsplosion Bay Studios." Deku commented.

"Aww!" Uraraka gushed, "'Rameo X Julienne!' This one's supposed to be about a Hero who falls in love with a Villain and eventually she reforms and becomes an Antihero!"

"You like DramaRom movies, Uraraka-san?" Deku asked.

"Well, not all of them. Just…interesting ones, you know?"

"What is 'Deadpool?'" Iida inquired, causing Kirishima to choke.

"WHAT'S _DEADPOOL_?! How do you not- Why haven't you- Okay, I'm seriously considering saying 'fuck it' to all of our plans and just spending the whole day here educating you people."

"Kiri, come on," Ashido said soothingly, "there'll be plenty of time for that later. Tell you what, if there's something that you just _have_ to see, we can come back later, okay?"

"For real?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Hmm…'Discipline of the Wolf.'" Shoji remarked to himself, "That looks interesting."

Eventually the group made it into their theater with only a couple of minutes to spare. They sat themselves towards the back of the small room and Katsuki was pleasantly surprised to find that they were the only ones in there.

After watching the previews, of which the highlight was something called "Mr. Pebles" which appeared to be some sort of Action-Comedy, they discovered that the feature picture was not "Killgore Deathmurder Part IV: The Re-Deathening" but rather something called "Brothers in War."

"Aw, fuck." Katsuki realized, "We're in the wrong theater!"

"Wait." Kirishima stopped them as they were about to get up and find the correct one, "Remember how I said I was trying to choose between two movies? Well, this was the other one. It's from the eighties."

"The twenty-one eighties?" Iida wondered.

"Nope. The _twenty_ eighties."

Damn. That meant this movie was over one-hundred and forty years old. Kirishima wasn't kidding when he said he was into the oldies.

"Why this one though?" Uraraka asked.

"You'll see. Just give it a moment."

The opening credits rolled amidst a blasted warzone as the camera gradually revealed more and more of the man walking through them until his name was displayed underneath his iconic face.

"Holy shit, is that Crimson Riot?"

"Yep. They managed to convince him to do this movie under the condition that they would break whenever he was needed. It took them twice as long as they thought it would because of all the re-shoots."

The movie played and it was revealed that the story was centered around Crimson Riot and a friend of his who was a Villain-turned-Antihero. They worked well together but Riot's friend, Ironblood, was forced to aid the big bad, who was clearly supposed to be some Prometheus allegory, because his family was being threatened.

The Heroes did not know the truth of the situation and simply assumed that Ironblood had reverted to his old ways. In the end, only Crimson Riot had faith in him and ended up discovering the truth only after leaving the Hero organization known as the Justicars. The climax of the film saw Crimson Riot facing off against the leader of the Justicars, Delta Justice, in order to prevent him from killing Ironblood.

After the movie ended, Katsuki was feeling more than a little energized. He wasn't alone in this either. Kirishima and Deku were re-enacting a piece from the climax.

"Riot! Even now, you stand in my way? To oppose me is to oppose Justice itself!"

"Why can't you understand, Delta?! I know there's more going on here than it looks like! He's my friend!"

"…So was I."

"I'm just glad they worked it out in the end." Uraraka sighed, stretching her limbs, "I was worried that Crimson Riot would have all of the Heroes after him for a while there."

"There were clearly trust issues between him and Delta Justice." Iida adjusted his glasses, "Crimson Riot made an attempt to prove his case with evidence, but Delta simply overlooked it. Honestly, it didn't mesh with what I had come to expect from his character thus far."

"I think it's important to consider Delta's point of view too." Deku added, "I mean, Crimson Riot is obviously the protagonist of the movie and all, so we're meant to sympathize with him, but from Delta's point of view he's a bit of a loose cannon. Delta is all about doing things by the book and following the letter of the law, so to someone like that, someone like Riot who acted on his emotions and gut feelings must have seemed like a dangerous, even anarchic force."

"The old 'Lawful Good vs Chaotic Good' issue?" Katsuki hazarded.

"That's the one." Deku confirmed, "I feel like both Delta and Riot were great Heroes who put their all into doing good, but their opposing world-views created friction between them. There's historical evidence to back this up, though I don't think the two ever came to blows in real life."

"There's some neat stories behind the filming of the movie, you know?" Kirishima grinned, "You know that part in the fight where Crimson Riot punched Delta Justice across the face and he smacked into a wall? That was unscripted. It was the tenth time they had to re-shoot that scene and Riot was getting bored, so he decided to mix things up a little. You probably noticed that the fight became a lot more brutal after that? Well, that was because from that point on, they really _were_ fighting!"

"No shit?" Katsuki had noticed, of course, but he had thought it was simply good choreography. He hadn't realized that it had been _real_. He would have to re-watch that scene on HeroTube sometime.

"Yeah, I know right? It was-" Kirishima was interrupted by the sound of his stomach growling.

"I concur." Shoji checked his phone, "That was a rather long movie; it's nearly one already."

"You were figuring out lunch right, Uraraka-san?" Deku confirmed, "What did you end up choosing?"

"Well, once Kirishima-kun told us which theater he wanted to go to, that helped to narrow down our options." she explained, "It turns out there's a reasonably-priced Thai place about a ten-minute walk from here."

Thai food? Well, they _had_ planned this out, hadn't they?

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Inko Midoriya was taking a breather with Mitsuki doing the same next to her.

"Ko-chan, pass the water, would ya?" Inko responded by tossing her a bottle, which she deftly snatched out of the air and drank from gratefully.

"Going at it a bit hard today, aren't you, Mitsu?"

"I have to! We both missed last week, after all. For good reasons, obviously, but still!"

"You could have come on your own if it bothered you that much."

"Don't be stupid, of course I couldn't. It wouldn't feel right, you know?"

"You're a big softy like always. Does your son know that about you?"

"I swear, Ko-chan, you'd better not say a word to him!"

"Mitsu, you know me better than that."

It had become a tradition between the two women over the years for them to hit the gym together once a week, usually on a Saturday. It gave them some girl time and also kept them both in shape.

Inko in particular was grateful for it. She had started to plump up a bit once Izuku started elementary school but Mitsuki's timely offer had left her looking almost the same as she had a decade ago.

Inko was a humble soul by nature, but she would occasionally look herself over in the mirror and think to herself "I look good."

"So, did Izuku tell you what his big plans were for Katsuki this year?" Mitsuki asked.

"No, actually." Inko replied, "I asked if he needed any help but he said that he and his friends were working on something. Apparently, they intended to surprise him as a group and make a day of it."

"Wow! I'm impressed!" and she truly looked it, "I know that both of our boys have done some growing since they started at U.A., but Izuku in particular seems to have changed."

"He really has." Inko agreed, "I can't imagine him organizing this sort of thing last year, or even last month!"

"I hope it goes well. This is a big step for both of them."

"I know what you mean, Mitsu-chan."

The two women spent a moment staring off into space before Mitsuki hopped out of her chair and snapped her neck towel at Inko.

"Come on, Ko-chan; back to it! Get on that treadmill!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki was pleased. The Thai food had been good and Uraraka hadn't been kidding about the price either. Count on those guys to amp up the heat when you asked for it, too.

Honestly, Katsuki was having a hard time remembering the last time he had laughed so hard. Kirishima, being a proponent of all things manly, had elected to order the same thing Katsuki had.

As in the exact same thing. Spice level and all.

 _Oh, my young spice apprentice, you were not ready for the Triple-Hot Chicken with Chili Peppers._

It. Was. Hysterical.

To his credit, Kirishima had toughed though it; he had devoured that meal as though his life depended on it. He had been such a trooper, in fact, that Katsuki had waved their waitress over and asked her to bring the redhead a glass of milk, which she had done with a knowing smile. Obviously, this sort of thing happened often around there.

The runner-up in the spice game had been Deku, who had restricted himself to Double-Hot, not that it mattered, him being immune to any and all negative effects from such foods. Showoff didn't even wait for it to cool down first.

Both Iida and Ashido had gone with Hot. He because apparently he enjoyed some spice every once in a while and she because she was feeling adventurous. She ended up liking it, though admitted that she would probably stick to Medium in the future unless she was in the mood to break a sweat.

Uraraka admitted that she would usually have gone straight for the Mild, but went with Medium in the spirit of things. Katsuki for one simply could not understand how someone could react so strongly to such a mild amount of spice, but there she was, sweating away as if she had gone for the Double-Hot.

Shoji was a surprise. He had stuck with Mild, citing that the sensation of eating spicy food with his Tentamouths was unpleasant.

"Since we're on the topic, why not use your normal mouth? You do have one, don't you?" Katsuki had asked.

"I do indeed." Shoji confirmed, "However, my explanation would require that I show you. I may do so at some point in the future, but for now I would rather not. Please do not take it personally."

Katsuki, having no reason to be suspicious and being in too good a mood to press him further, had let the subject drop.

Once Uraraka had brought out the cash wad again and paid their bill, it was time to hit the arcade. Mina in particular was excited, since she knew the one they were going to.

"We all have to play DDE while we're there!" she insisted, "It's, like, the best game ever!"

"DDE?" Uraraka questioned.

"Dance Dance Extreme!" Ashido answered, "It's like those old dancing games where you had to step on arrows or make specific arm movements, except it incorporates your whole body! It'll give you a workout like nothing else will!"

"I must admit, that sounds both entertaining and productive!" Iida proclaimed.

"It sounds difficult." Deku commented, "How precise do you have to be here?"

"Oh, it's not that bad." Ashido assured him. "It's more about energy and timing than precision. As long as you're doing basically the correct movements you'll get a good score. Of course, if you actually _do_ the dance then you're bound to do better. That's just how the game is designed."

"Hell, count me in!" Kirishima decided, "It sounds like a good challenge!"

"How will the game react to me having six arms?" Shoji questioned.

"It has settings to accommodate mutant-type Quirks." she assured him, "It's actually really state-of-the-art! That's part of why it's a bit on the expensive side though: it costs 200 yen per credit."

"Damn, not many machines eat that much money." Katsuki remarked, "100 is usually enough to get you into pretty much whatever."

"It's worth it though, trust me!" Ashido insisted, "You all have to try it at least once!"

They arrived at the arcade in question and Uraraka took a moment to convert most of their remaining money into a combination of 100 and 500-yen coins, keeping their remaining 1,000-yen bills intact for use in vending machines or something. Katsuki thought to himself that this was a good idea since if what Ashido had said about DDE was true, they would probably be getting very thirsty.

"Okay, it's on the second floor. Everyone get to the escalator!" Ashido led the way to the second floor where the lighting was dimmer and the neon emanating from the numerous machines gave everything a shadow-less, matte look.

Dance Dance Extreme, as it turned out, was a rather large machine. It made sense, Katsuki supposed, since it was supposed to track one's entire body and some people, such as Shoji, could get rather large. When the first player, Ashido (she had volunteered to show them all the ropes first), popped her coins into the console, it was revealed that DDE had a versus mode as well, which further explained why the stage was so wide.

"Alright," the pink girl said to herself as she flicked through the menu with motions of her hands, "let's start out with something simple…or not. I kinda wanna cut loose. Do you guys mind?"

"If you're aiming to impress, then just make sure you don't fall on your ass." Katsuki responded. This earned him narrow-eyed grin that the electronic light reflecting off of her yellow eyes made look rather predatory.

"Challenge accepted, Baku." she then selected a song titled "Synthetic Ninja" and set the difficulty to "Extreme," which was the highest setting.

"Oh, shit." Kirishima was staring wide-eyed as she limbered up while the song loaded, "I think she's serious, Bakugo."

Then, something interesting happened. A featureless, female hologram appeared in front of Ashido which had roughly the same physical dimensions as her.

" _Follow me, alright? Just remember not to hurt yourself!"_

"You got it."

" _Caution: the song you have selected contains extremely vigorous physical motions. By continuing, you understand and accept any and all liability for personal injury."_

"Understood. Let's dance already!"

Then the music started and Mina Ashido moved like a woman possessed.

It was immediately clear that she was familiar with this particular song, because there was no way in hell that she could keep pace with the seamless series of spins, flips and kicks if she wasn't.

" _Don't mind me, I'm just passin'. The deadliest assassin."_

At one point, she threw herself into a handstand and performed an inverted double hurricane kick that made her look as though she were attempting to achieve liftoff with only her legs. Then she was on the floor, spinning on her back before rolling onto her forearms and popping herself back up just in time to flip back over and perform a perfect kip-up to regain her feet.

" _Such a rarity, defying gravity, bringing calamity!"_

It was less like a dance and more like watching some impossibly-choreographed fight scene as Ashido and her hologram moved in perfect sync for exactly three minutes before the song ended.

" _Synthetic, synthetic, synthetic NINJA!"_

" _Song complete! Extreme performance! Perfect!"_

"Ho-"

"-ly"

"Shit."

The onlookers could hardly believe what they had just witnessed. Katsuki had known that Ashido was a physically-gifted girl from her performance at Fight Club, but this was on an entirely different level.

"Midoriya, you didn't use your Quirk, did you?" Kirishima asked, one hand in his pocket as he presumably adjusted himself.

"No, why?"

"Because that was so hot I physically felt it."

Ashido had clearly heard him from the way her eyes widened briefly as she left the stage and Katsuki would have bet money that the purple flush on her face wasn't entirely due to her physical exertions.

"Please tell me not all of the songs are like that." Iida requested.

"What?" Ashido snapped out of her reverie and quickly gathered her wits, "No, not at all! In fact, that's generally considered to be one of the hardest songs not to mention that I did it on the highest difficulty setting! There's usually a preview system in place where a different-colored hologram shows you what the real one is about to do a little bit before it happens. Extreme is the only level that doesn't have that."

"Oh, thank god." Deku sighed, "I honestly don't think I could survive that song. I'd probably break something."

"I am not sure that song is even physically possible with my physiology." Shoji seconded.

"Well, come on!" Ashido prompted, "Who's next?"

"I'll do it." Katsuki volunteered himself. He stepped up on the stage and popped two 100-yen coins into the machine.

Immediately, the menu popped up and he flicked through it, considering the songs before him before shrugging and selecting one titled "Explosion Man." He decided to set it on Medium difficulty because he would _never_ be caught playing something on Easy.

While the song loaded, he was shown a picture of the stage with a pair of footprints on it directing him to stand there. Once he assumed his position, his hologram appeared in front of him. It was similar to Ashido's except for the fact that it was male and had Katsuki's dimensions.

" _Follow me, alright? Just remember not to hurt yourself!"_

"I got it."

" _Would you like an explanation of the Preview System?"_

"No, I'll figure it out."

Katsuki noticed, just before the music started, that his hologram had a sort of pale gray film over its blue body. Then the song started and the grey film was revealed to be a doppelganger that threw its arms out to the side just before the hologram did the same thing and Katsuki instinctively followed suit.

" _I bring the thunder, I bring the BANG!"_

It took a few moments for Katsuki to get into the rhythm of things, but eventually he found that he was anticipating and matching the hologram's movements instead of trying to keep up with them.

" _I kick down the DOOR! Drop the hammer like THOR!"_

It helped that there was a definite "oomph" to the lyrics themselves. They acted almost like a metronome in time with the heavy drum beat. By the time the song wound down Katsuki was fairly certain that he had done well and was even enjoying himself a bit.

" _I'm no Hero~ but it's the endga~me, so now it's time for Explosion Man to go out with a BANG!"_

Katsuki held the final pose of the game, arms spread wide as he waited for his judgement.

" _Song complete! Nice job! B-plus!"_

"Hey, good job, birthday boy!" Ashido applauded for him along with the others as he left the stage, "If you tried that again I'm sure you'd get an 'A!' It was the beginning where you were getting used to it that hurt your score."

The others went after that and everyone did reasonably well except for Iida, who apparently had some trouble with rhythm. For his second try he switched to Easy and had a good time.

Some highlights included Shoji's first attempt where his hologram did indeed have six arms and apparently had tailored the song to accommodate this (the load time was twice as long as a result) and Kirishima's performance which, much to his embarrassment, included a lot of pelvic thrusts. Ashido was supportive of him though, wolf-whistling appreciatively whenever he was forced to do something particularly suggestive.

When all was said and done, they had used nearly all of their remaining funds on a combination of DDE and a round of drinks from the vending machine. There was still enough left for a few old favorites though, like the punching machine.

That poor, poor thing. Quirks might be prohibited, but Shoji's muscle was all-natural. He ended up being number two on the leaderboard just below someone named "Mirio."

"I remember when that guy was in here." one of the workers informed them, "He was all like, 'POWERRRRRRR!' and then he just hauled off and whacked that thing. I was afraid he'd broken it for a minute."

"Mirio…" Deku mused, "why do I feel like I've heard that name before?"

"Because it sounds like a certain famous plumber?" Kirishima suggested.

Deku found himself unable to remember and eventually all of their money was spent, so it was time to leave.

"Well, I hope everyone had a good time today!" Deku said as they prepared to part ways.

"I. Had. The. BEST. Time." Ashido gushed, "Seriously. This was great. I love you guys."

"We should totally hang out more!" Uraraka agreed.

"I'm gonna regret that chicken later, aren't I?" Kirishima asked Katsuki.

"Drink plenty of milk and pray to whatever god will listen." Katsuki advised.

"I too enjoyed myself." Iida smiled, "It was a novel experience, to be sure."

"I had fun." Shoji confirmed, "I would not object to doing something like this again."

"What about you, Kacchan?" Deku asked.

"Huh? Yeah, it was fun. Thanks for putting all this together, guys."

After the round of "thank-you's" and "no, thank _you_ 's" and general farewells was done, it was just Katsuki and Deku heading home together. It wasn't dark yet but it was starting to think about it. After all was said and done they had ended up spending a few hours in the arcade it was about half-past five.

"Hey, Kacchan?"

"Hmm?"

"Now that it's just us, tell me what you really thought of the day. Was there anything you didn't like?"

"Deku, I honestly did have fun. The movie was good, the food was good and the arcade was good. It was just…a bit weird, that's all."

"Weird like how?"

How should he word this? He stopped and turned so he was facing Deku as he thought.

"Well, I'm not used to people treating me like this, I guess. Every year until this one, you've been the only one to really treat me like just another guy. Everyone else our age always either ran away or put me on a pedestal and tried to suck up to me. These guys though…there was none of that. I was just another member of the group and it was…nice."

It had been too. Katsuki had enjoyed himself far more than he had thought he would when he had first been surprised at the theater that morning. Dare he say that he was starting to consider them friends instead of just underlings or classmates? Not to their faces, of course, but in the confines of his own mind, where nobody else could hear him? Sure. Why not?

Friends. He did consider them to be his friends. If not before today than certainly after it.

"You're really starting to like them, aren't you?"

Of course fucking Deku could see right through him. That was the downside of knowing someone for damn near your entire life: they could read you like a book.

Of course, that went both ways.

"Alright then, Deku, spill. What else you got?"

Deku chuckled self-consciously, acknowledging the move that Katsuki had made.

"Well, I wanted to apologize for not getting you anything. I just couldn't think of what you might want so I put this together instead."

"You don't have anything to apologize for, dumbass. Like I said, I had a good time today."

Then, before he could stop himself, Katsuki said one more thing.

"Besides, there's only one thing I really want anyway and it's not something I could just ask you to give me."

Their eyes locked and no sooner had they done so then Katsuki wished he could take it back. Deku was giving him that searching, piercing look that made him feel like his very soul was being scrutinized. That was the look that meant that he was putting his brain to use deciphering Katsuki's actions and when he did this he was seldom wrong.

Eventually, he smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so, huh? Even if I could just give it to you, it's not like you'd want to get it that way, right? Honestly, I wouldn't want it that way either."

He fell back into step alongside Katsuki and patted him on the back. Just in time to restart the explosive boy's heartbeat.

"Don't worry though; we'll get there. We'll both become Heroes and we'll do it the right way!"

Of course that was what he meant.

Did he actually not know, or was he just playing dumb for both of their sakes? Knowing Deku, either was possible. He was, after all, notoriously dense about certain things.

Like the fact that a certain friend of theirs was crushing on him harder than All Might holding a grip trainer. She hadn't taken her eyes off of him for an instant when it was his turn playing DDE.

Was Katsuki just letting things take their natural course when he refused to tell Deku what he was seeing?

Or was he just being selfish?

Knowing Katsuki, either was possible.

He was, after all, notoriously stubborn about certain things.

Dense and stubborn. What a duo they made.

* * *

 **Sorry if that dancing scene was...bad. I know absolutely nothing about dancing and can't do anything but a waltz worth a damn, which is part of the reason why I only showed Ashido and Bakugo. I also suck at coming up with names, hence the cheesy song titles. Oh, well. I had fun.**

 **I especially enjoyed doing the movie stuff. Thank you again for all of the suggestions!**

 **I've also caught up with my notes again. Time to write more!**

 **Next time: Something! I'm thinking Izuku and Ochako have a conversation and more Quirk Training probably. Yeah, let's go with that.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	27. Chapter 27: Test Drive

**I've been getting back into a particular manga lately and it had a bit of an influence on the first part of this chapter. I wonder if anyone can catch the reference?** **Also, I'm posting this from my phone this time due to a power outage, so sorry if i missed any last-minute reviews.**

 **Review time:**

 **Cieszesi Niezmiernie, ILiekFishes, CodeTalker69 : The Sports Festival is coming up very soon! With how much this chapter covered, I can see it starting as soon as Chapter Twenty-Nine!**

 **ILiekFishes : Don't worry about any of this being filler. Every chapter I put out has a purpose, even if it's just to set up some character stuff for the future or to add some development. Chapter twenty-five in particular has some important stuff in it. If main-plot stuff is what you're after though, this chapter should suffice.**

 **Dright Lore : I will say this: the majority of people who have guesses about Bakugo's orientation are half-correct, yourself included. I deliberately haven't spelled it out in the story yet, though I will at some point. As for how things will end up...well, that's spoiler territory. I do have a plan though.**

 **Gako959 : This is an interesting theory and it certainly helps to explain why All Might retains his powers for a while.**

 **Nidhog42 : I made the songs up.**

 **Gokuu the Carrot : I'm no stranger to spicy foods, but I don't think I'm at Katsuki's level.**

 **CodeTalker69 : I'm assuming this is Twain apprentice? If so, I went straight to the page after I saw this comment and realized that the characters tab existed. I looked it over and so far it's great! I love how in-depth you're getting with some of them. I'm not sure if I knew that Aoyama's problem was because of a deformity or not, but either way I do know that he has to wear the belt all the time or else he leaks laser everywhere. Makes me wonder how he cleans that area. As for the idea you have regarding Full Cowl...well, just read the chapter. Your timing is uncanny and your guess is pretty much on the mark.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Killgore Deathmurder part III was my idea, but one of my reviewers suggested part IV. They call it "old cinema" mainly just because it's over a century old at this point. It's not so much that it's hard to find them as that they just get swept away with the times. There's a lot of movies getting made, you know? Eijiro knows a thing or two about Crimson Riot for sure. I wouldn't put it past him to out-fact Izuku when it pertains to him specifically.**

 **I acknowledge that inflation should have happened and that there is a good chance that the currency may have changed as well. That falls under the category of "it takes too much thinking and isn't fun, so I'mma hand-wave it." I did indeed make up the songs. I'm honestly not sure if Kirishima's Hardening would work on his sphincter. I will confirm that Izuku is straight as a board in Torchbearer. As for Katsuki, I refer you to my above response to Dright Lore.**

 **ImGolden : I've gotten some reports about the app doing weird pairing-related things. I'm not sure what's causing this but rest assured that, while there are pairings, they occur late enough in the story that they will be unlabeled.**

 **bhennen, Rusty Thebanite, yousifkadri12, Markus-Antonius, uchihaNaruto247, jaciro500, hrisi292, Manny Siliezar, sremiehzla, Jack Inqu, Ricku28, MyPillow, Akat x Deidara, Sentinel07, UnholyTomahawk and everyone else: Thank you for your support and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, meanwhile, at the Legion of Doo- I mean, League of Villains:**

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Test Drive

Kurogiri stood behind his bar idly polishing a cocktail glass while the girl sipped happily from her virgin bloody mary on a stool towards the end. A Villain the bartender may have been, but serving underage children alcohol was a step too far for him. While behind his bar, he was a consummate professional.

It was a common misconception that, in much the same way that Heroes were always busy being Heroic, that Villains were always busy being Villainous. Kurogiri scoffed at the idea. Did they also think that a doctor was always a doctor or that a teacher was always a teacher? At the end of the day, they were all human in their own special ways.

And everyone needed a hobby.

Kurogiri's hobby just so happened to be mixing drinks and providing a balm for the weary souls who came to sit at his bar. Of course, his clientele was few and far between given the nature of this bar. It was, after all, supposed to be a hidden lair of sorts. His most frequent customer was, by far, Tomura Shigaraki. Occasionally he would entertain an arms dealer or informant and rarely an ordinary person would stumble in from the street, none the wiser as to exactly what they had discovered.

Kurogiri had hoped, however briefly, that the growing numbers of the League of Villains would provide him with a larger customer base. This hope had been quickly dashed when only Tomura and himself had escaped from USJ. The girl had not been part of the attack; she had performed her duties admirably beforehand and was a valuable member.

She was also Kurogiri's only other regular at the moment, even if she could not legally drink, so it was in his best interest to take good care of her.

Honestly, she was a rather charming young lady when not in one of her "moods." She smiled and giggled as readily as any high school girl might have and there was a certain youthful innocence about her too-large cardigan and carelessly-styled blonde hair. She was bloodthirsty, no doubt about that, but she was also cheerful and sweet in some unexpected ways.

"Hey, Kurogiri?" she got his attention and he met her yellow, slit-pupiled eyes with his own, featureless ones, "What did you say was in this again?"

"Tomato juice, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, a dash of tabasco sauce, ice and, of course, a stalk of celery." he rattled off, "Normally there would also be vodka, but I compensated for the lack by using extra juice."

"It's super good! You always make such tasty drinks for me!" she gave him a wide, fanged smile, "Didn't you say there was another version of it too?"

"Ah, you mean the bloody caesar. It is a simple change, really; you use clamato juice instead of regular tomato juice. It gives it a more robust flavor, though not everyone likes it."

"Wait, bloody mary and bloody caesar?" her eyes widened before she blushed and let out a happy squeal, "Oh my god, that's so cute! They're like a bloody little couple!"

She stirred the drink with the celery stalk, a dreamy expression on her face as the ice clinked against the glass.

"I really, really want to come here one day with a nice boy and have you make those for us. Bloody mary for me and bloody caesar for him. It's just so romantic, don't you think?"

"Indeed." Kurogiri agreed, "It would be a much subtler gesture than ordering between the sheets or sex on the beach, though perhaps an angel face would suffice."

"Are you making fun of me?" she pouted at him.

"I would never." though not visible on his face, the misty bartender could not keep the smile out of his voice, "If we ignore Heroics for a moment, there are two professions where you must never betray your customer. Do you know what they are?"

She cocked her head and sipped her drink, thinking it over.

"I guess a doctor?" he nodded with approval.

"Doctor and bartender." she gave him a skeptical look, prompting him to explain, "A doctor's job is to heal one's body as best they can. A bartender's job is to heal one's _spirit_ the best they can. Some believe this is why alcohol is sometimes referred to as 'spirits,' you know?"

"So, does that mean you can't do anything for me, since I can't drink?"

"Not at all. It simply means that children have better coping skills than adults do." Kurogiri chuckled heartily, "You have no need of the type of medicine that I can provide. I _could_ say that I would sooner have it so that nobody would have need of it, but then I would have nobody to mix drinks for."

"That's why you're a Villain, then?" she smirked cheekily at him, "If you cause more trouble, then more people will want to drink?"

"Would such a reason truly be so bad?"

"Hey, I don't need a reason as long as you keep making me tasty drinks!" a few moments passed in comfortable silence that was broken only when the girl finished her drink and began crunching on the celery stalk, "Mmm…Kurogiri? I think I'd like something sweeter next."

"I shall give you a glass of water to cleanse the flavor of the bloody mary somewhat, but after that perhaps I could make you a frozen daiquiri? Strawberry is the standard, but one can use nearly any type of fruit."

"Hmm…how about cherry?"

"Most certainly."

Yes, a time of calm. A time of casual companionship where he could mix drinks and enjoy some conversation for a change. The proverbial eye of the storm.

Yet, as with all things, it would not last.

The heavy door opened and closed with a thud as Tomura walked in, throwing back the hood of the dark hoodie that he wore when venturing out in public.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back, Tomura."

"Shiga! Shiga! Did you find him?" Tomura ignored the girl for a moment while he sat down and gestured to Kurogiri to give him something to drink.

"No. He must have a really good Stealth score because everyone knows _who_ he is, but nobody knows _where_ he is. Eventually I had to give up asking and start following his trail of kills. Guy's a total murder hobo, you know? He doesn't seem to have a specific area that he operates in. He just goes from city to city, kills a few Heroes and then moves on." he took the gin and tonic that Kurogiri passed him and took a long, slow sip, savoring the feeling of the fizz on his cracked lips and the gin simultaneously burning and chilling its way down his throat.

"The problem here is that I've got no idea what makes him decide that enough is enough and move on. If I knew that then I could just have Kurogiri warp me all over hell, taking head counts until I found a city where he hadn't reached his quota yet. Nothing doing though. This is gonna be a multiple-part skill challenge. Hopefully now that Kurogiri's all healed up we can start making some real progress. I wish we had a cleric, but what can you do?"

"What is your intent once you locate the Hero Killer, Tomura?" Kurogiri had been hesitant to broach this topic over the past week and a half due to Tomura's anger over his failure at USJ, but he decided that he had waited long enough.

"My intent?" Tomura gave a half-smirk that caused the scar on the left side of his mouth to move, "I'm gonna bring him here, of course. Everyone knows that in order to recruit a new party member, it's best to bring them to your base. Plus, you wanted to meet him, right, Toga?"

Himiko Toga nodded enthusiastically.

"Yesyesyes! I really, really wanna meet him! He's killed so many people, I bet he just _reeks_ of blood! Maybe if you catch him at the right moment, he'll still have some on him when he comes here? I wonder if he's handsome? Do you think he likes clamato juice?"

As she jabbered away, Tomura gave Kurogiri a nonplussed look and mouthed "clamato juice" at him. All Kurogiri did in response was give a theatrical shrug.

After all, it was taboo for a bartender to talk about his customers. Even to other customers.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was engrossed in a particularly interesting online article about Villainy through the ages when his phone rang. He saw that it was Uraraka and picked up, wondering what she needed.

"Hello?"

"Deku-kun?" her voice was slightly distorted, "I've got you on speaker. Can you hear me alright?"

"Yeah, I can hear you. What's up?" he heard the tapping of a keyboard in the background, presumably coming from her computer.

"Well, I wanted to talk about our stargazing trip. I mean, Golden Week is the week after this one and we haven't really talked about it much since I pitched the idea. I figured we could start working out some of the logistics. That is…if you still want to go?"

Why did she sound so nervous? Did she honestly think that he wouldn't want to?

"Uraraka-san, I really do want to go. Are you having second thoughts? I understand if you are. I mean, this is something that's really special to you and it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing when you asked me to go before…"

"No!" he thought he heard something hit the floor but couldn't tell what it might have been, "I want to go! For real! When you told me that you've never been stargazing before I knew right away that I had to take you! I remember my first time and it was just so magical…I want to share that with you, Deku-kun. I want to be there when you experience that for the first time."

That struck Izuku dumb for a moment. He had known that stargazing was something that Uraraka enjoyed; she had told him as much. Even so, he had failed to grasp just how much it resonated with her. The fact that she wanted him to share in such an important thing with her was…humbling, to say the least.

"Honestly," he finally managed, "I think I want to go even more after hearing that."

Did he hear a sigh of relief from the other end of the line?

"Well, good. In that case, I should probably tell you straight-out that our travel plans will have to change. I sort of goofed before when I said that we could take the bullet train to Nagano. It's not that we _couldn't_ , but…"

"Too expensive?" he hazarded.

"Yeah. I wasn't really thinking straight that night because of…reasons."

"It's fine. I understand."

How could he not? He had been there for the event in question, after all.

"I know. Anyway, yeah; the bullet train is out of my budget range, especially after Bakugo's last-minute birthday yesterday."

Ah. That was kind of on him, wasn't it?

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be silly, Deku-kun. It was a lot of fun and besides, you all contributed a lot more than I did."

"Only in terms of money." Izuku said without thinking.

"Ah…" it was only after hearing her surprised little noise that Izuku realized the possible implications of his statement, "Th-thank you, Deku-kun. That's a very nice thing to say."

"N-no. I'm j-just being honest."

Queue awkward silence.

 _Why did I have to say that?_

 _Hey, honesty is the policy we decided on, remember? No regretting that now._

 _I know. I know it's better this way, but don't you think there's such a thing as being_ too _honest?_

 _No. Maybe there are times when it's better not to say anything, but I will never condone lying. Nothing good ever comes of it._

Well, that was…interesting. Izuku wasn't used to the internal voice that he had come to dub "Other Izuku" being so…vehement. Was that because he knew somewhere deep down that he was just embarrassed?

Intellectually, Izuku knew that must be the reason but for some reason that explanation just didn't _feel_ right.

"A-anyway. What I wanted to say was that we'll end up taking a highway bus to Hokuto, then we can take a local bus to Minamimaki. It'll take a bit longer, of course, but if I order the tickets in advance then we can get a discount. Plus we'll get a ten-percent discount for purchasing round-trip tickets and I'm pretty sure there's a student discount on top of that. It should be manageable after all that!"

"That sounds like a plan. How does this work? Do you need a credit card or something?"

"No, nothing like that. It's actually fully-automated. I just need to submit the order and it'll be stored in the kiosk at the station. I'll probably need your ID number though since I probably can't just use my number twice…yeah, nothing doing."

"Just a sec, I'll go get it. I'm putting you down for a moment."

Izuku retrieved his student ID from his wallet and read it off for Uraraka.

"Alright. Done and…done! Just make sure that you bring that with you or we won't be able to pay for our tickets."

"Oh, it takes cash then?"

"Yep! Well, it probably also takes cards but cash is always a safe bet."

"Wait, I just realized I have no idea when you booked the trip for."

A pause, followed by the distinct sound of skin smacking against skin.

"Duh! I'm so sorry, Deku-kun! I should have checked to see if Greenery Day was okay with you."

"Greenery Day. That's May fourth, which is…next Saturday. Yeah, no, that should be fine. Actually, that's probably for the best. Since stargazing is a nighttime thing, we should probably just plan on it being an overnight trip."

"Overnight? But I don't think hotel expenses would fit in the budget…"

"What are you talking about, Uraraka-san? We'll probably be hiking at least some distance away from the town, right? We could just camp out. I'm pretty sure there's a tent stored away somewhere here…I'll have to ask my mom about that later."

"Ah, right. It makes sense when you put it that way. Good thinking, Deku-kun! I'll put together a plan for what we'll need to bring with us then!"

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything, alright?"

"I will! For sure! I need to go though; talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Uraraka-san."

"Bye, Deku-kun."

As the connection was severed, Izuku pondered at her sudden rush to end the call. Maybe she had a sudden idea and didn't want to forget it? He could empathize with that.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Ochako Uraraka was in something of a tizzy.

That Deku! How could he say such things so casually?! It had been all she could do to keep her voice from shaking as she excused herself from the call as quickly as possible without just hanging up on him.

Ochako threw herself onto her bed and rolled around with an agitated, direction-less energy.

If she didn't know any better, she would have said that Deku was deliberately messing with her; that he was being mean and trying to rile her up on purpose.

She knew that wasn't the case though; Deku wouldn't do something like that. She might have only known him for a couple months but…

…Wow. Had it really been two months already? The entrance exam had been on February twenty-sixth and it was April twenty-first. Pretty darn close.

It felt like she'd known him for longer than that. Like it had been two, even three times as long. Maybe that was because of how much they'd been through in that short amount of time? It had been more than any other friend she'd ever had, that much was for sure.

If Ochako really thought about it, most people went their entire _lives_ without going through what she and Deku had just on the day they first met. A near-death experience really helped to cement some memories into one's head.

Maybe that had been why she had found herself thinking of him more than once in the month before classes at U.A. had started? Sure, that made sense. It was the most reasonable explanation.

After all, it wasn't like she had a crush on him or anything. She just liked him. He was a friend. A really, really good friend. Maybe even her best friend.

Her best friend who had saved her in spite of barely knowing her. Who had defended her from _his_ best friend the second time they had met. Who had shown himself to be so much more than he had at first seemed to be. Who had stood against an impossible evil in order to defend his classmates, nearly sacrificing himself in the process. Who had comforted her when she couldn't sleep and held her when she just couldn't bear it anymore. Who had spent one of the best days she had ever had with her, which turned out to even be her first date. Who had trusted her to be in charge of a big part of his best-friend's birthday celebration. Who had an open, honest smile and pretty green eyes that she could lose herself in…

And just a moment ago he had essentially told her that just having her there that day had made him happier. Then he had suggested that they _share a tent_! Just how was she _supposed_ to take that?!

Okay. Maybe Ochako _did_ have feelings for Izuku Midoriya that went beyond simple friendship. Maybe she kept lying to herself every time he made her heart skip a beat or gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling inside because she didn't want to seem like some shallow, hormonal teenager who would go weak at the knees for just anybody.

But…was he just anybody? Her instincts cried out at her that _no_ , he most certainly was _not_ just anybody and how could she even _think_ that after everything he had said and done, not just for her but for _everybody_?!

Even so, whether from fear or stubbornness she still refused to yield.

The stargazing trip. That would decide it. If it was meant to be, then she would get some sort of sign. Something would happen that would tell her once and for all just what she was supposed to feel for Izuku Midoriya.

Regardless of what happened one way or the other, she could rest easy knowing that they would still be best friends afterwards. How could they be anything else? She would cut the deck, let fate deal her hand and accept whatever the result happened to be.

There. That made things easier. Now she could focus on planning the trip and just enjoying herself as much as possible. After all, what was the point if they didn't have any fun?

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Classes on Monday and Tuesday were as uneventful as classes at U.A. ever got for Izuku. Notably, he had his second one-on-one after-school session with All Might. They spent the majority of it refining his control of Reflect Fire because, as All Might had stated, one polished technique was worth more than several haphazard ones. They did work on low-powered versions of the ones that Izuku had already developed towards the end, however.

"I see." the thin All Might had said after Izuku had demonstrated his techniques, "So, you have the Nevada Smash, which is currently the one with the most stopping power, Chicago Fire, which covers the widest area and now Reflect Fire, which should prove effective against other fire-users, since most of its power comes from the explosion. In addition to this, you have the ability to spit fireballs of varying intensity, wrap your limbs in fire to augment your attacks and, of course, attract flames to yourself with Flame Magnet. Does that about cover it?"

"If we're talking about my fire-based attacks, then yes." Izuku responded, "I can also use normal smashes at about five-percent effectiveness without using any fuel."

"I've been meaning to comment on that." All Might said, "When I have observed you using this particular technique, your movements seem a bit stilted. Is there a particular reason for this?"

"That's because I can only do it with one limb at a time unless I'm doing something really simple, like lifting something. Otherwise it takes too much concentration. The only time I was able to utilize the technique effectively was during the Battle Trial against Kacchan and even that was only for two steps."

"You need to fix this." All Might stated bluntly, "Such a limitation will prove disastrous should your first attack miss or otherwise prove to be insufficient. It also hinders your overall mobility. How to put this…" he took a moment to think, "Right now you are wielding One For All like a heavy club. It's a powerful weapon that leaves you wide open if you waste any movements. You should think of it more like a suit of powered armor that augments your natural movements. You shouldn't need to focus on what you want to do; you should just _do_ it."

Izuku tried. He truly did. He concentrated on focusing One For All into his entire body at once, as if he were wearing it like a second skin. The power was there, he could _feel_ it, but when he tried to use it, it would slip away after a second or two.

"…This is no good." he eventually decided.

"What do you mean, my boy?"

"It feels…wrong." Izuku tried to explain, "It's like…trying to push a car while it's still in park or swim through a pool of molasses. Sure, it's _possible_ , but at the same time it seems kind of dumb, you know?"

"Hmm…" All Might stroked his bony chin thoughtfully, "I cannot say for certain what your trouble stems from, my boy, since your One For All is fundamentally different from my own. All I can be sure of is that there must be a fundamental flaw in the way you are approaching the situation. If the car is in park, then find a way to put it in neutral. I should have time on Friday for another session. Your homework in the meantime is to consider this conundrum and see if you can think of anything."

"Yes, sir."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Wednesday was upon them. That meant that it was time for the second meeting of Fight Club. Izuku was actually looking forward to it: the issue of how to use One For All more efficiently was driving him up the wall and he needed to let off some steam and some free-form sparring would be a great way to do that.

He was surprised, therefore, when Ojiro pulled him aside right as people were starting to pair up and have at it.

"Midoriya-san, I was approached with an idea in regards to your problem with fighting women which I believe will prove to be effective in correcting it."

"Really? That's great! What is it?"

"I believe it would be better to let _them_ explain it to you. I just wanted to let you know that they have my permission to do whatever they see fit within reason." he pointed behind Izuku to where the six female members of Class 1-A were standing, "Have fun."

"Tooru-chan, you wanna give him the details? It was your idea after all." Jiro asked her invisible friend, who gave a casual shrug that was betrayed by the obvious excitement in her voice.

"Sure, Kyoka-chan."

She took a couple of steps towards Izuku, stopping when she was an arms-length from him.

"Alright, Midoriya, listen up!" she adopted a serious, drill sergeant-esque tone, "You've got issues with fighting girls, so in order to cure you of that, you're going to _only_ be fighting girls until you get over it!"

"That's right, you lucky devil," Ashido winked and blew him a kiss, "you get us all to yourself~"

Oh.

Oh, dear.

This was _not_ going to be fun.

The girls proceeded to fight him one at a time, switching every time a round was finished. It was all Izuku could do to block or evade their attacks. With the lower-ranked girls this wasn't too bad. Uraraka was clearly struggling against her first instinct of just grabbing him and turning him weightless with her Quirk, so her attacks were telegraphed and easy to avoid. Hagakure was a bit more challenging, given the fact that he couldn't actually see her arms, but her lack of power and inefficient movements made it a simple matter for him to just put up his guard and wait it out.

Jiro was more aggressive than Hagakure and packed a little bit more punch, but ended up being no more difficult to deal with due to not being invisible. Asu- _Tsuyu_ proved to be a bit of a curveball. Since she was a mutant-type and because her physical structure was a bit different than everyone else's, she stayed low and utilized leaping attacks and sweeping kicks with her powerful legs. Izuku's shins hurt by the end of that round and judging from the ginger way Tsuyu was walking, so were hers.

Then it was Ashido's turn and all bets were off.

"Midori, I'm gonna warn you right now: if you aren't prepared to put your hands on me then you may as well just lie back and let me have my way with you. It'd save us both some trouble."

 _Lie back and let her do_ what _now?_

 _Other Izuku, THIS IS NOT THE TIME!_

 _I beg to differ. Duck._

Izuku complied and just barely avoided taking a high kick to the face.

 _We knew she was flexible but godDAMN!_

 _Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!_

"What's the matter, Midori?" Ashido had started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet with her fists raised in a boxing stance, which was doing _very_ interesting things to her chest. Judging from the smile on her face and the glint in her eyes, Izuku strongly suspected that she was completely aware of this fact.

Well, that explained why she had made a show of discarding her shirt and leaving her upper body covered by only a sports bra.

"See something you like? Me too!" suddenly, pain happened and Izuku was forced to spin around to compensate for the sudden momentum brought on by his throbbing cheek, "An _opening_."

The way she emphasized that last word was just plain _wrong_.

"Ashido-san, could you please stop what you're doing? It's making me extremely uncomfortable."

"Oh, I'll just _bet_ it is~"

A quick glance towards the sidelines revealed that, while some of the girls were a bit pink in the face, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu in particular, they did not appear surprised or upset by Ashido's tactics.

That meant this had been _planned_.

He was so screwed.

 _Pretty sure that's what she_ wants _you to think._

 _GO DIE IN A FIRE!_

The remainder of the round was nothing short of a nightmare for poor Izuku. If he averted his gaze, he was immediately punished for it. If he blocked or tried to grab her, she hit him with innuendo or low sounds that Izuku was one-hundred percent certain that a girl her age shouldn't know how to make. If he stuck to evasion then she would get in close and run a hand along his face or his chest or…just wherever the hell she wanted before she hit him with a knee or an elbow or some other close-range attack.

"Tell me something, Midori," she taunted right when the round was about to end, "is it that you _can't_ stop me or that you don't _want_ to?"

The momentary short-circuit caused by that was enough for her to sweep his legs and pin him to the floor just as the bell rang. Her face was _way_ too close to his and he had no doubt that she knew _exactly_ where her right leg currently was.

"Huh. 'Don't want to' it is." she got off of him and as she helped him to his feet, Izuku couldn't help but feel a little violated. In the end, she really _had_ just had her way with him.

"I say we let him go, girls." Ashido said to the onlookers, "I may have poured it on a bit thick. We should probably give him a chance to go… _think_ about it."

Yaoyorozu was as red as a cherry at this point and the previously unphased Jiro widened her eyes slightly and glanced at Izuku before letting out a low whistle.

Izuku wasted no time in accepting the offer and left immediately.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Mina Ashido watched the poor boy retreat with one hand resting on her hip and the other wiping her brow. She had to admit that, acting or no, that had been a bit more exhilarating than she had bargained for. Especially that reveal at the end. She'd be a liar if she said that didn't give her a bit of an ego boost.

Meanwhile, Ochako was giving her a disapproving look out of the corner of her eye.

"Ochako-chan," she sighed, "don't give me that stink eye. Remember that we gave everyone equal opportunity and you turned it down just the same as Tooru-chan and Tsuyu-chan. Honestly, with how red Yaomomo is I almost can't believe that she didn't turn it down too."

"It's just…" the tallest member of their group fidgeted cutely, "I mean, it's for the betterment of one of our classmates, so of course I'd do it! I just don't understand how you can do something so embarrassing so easily, Mina-chan."

"Ribbit, you did look like you were enjoying yourself out there, Mina-chan." Tsuyu added.

Mina sighed again and tapped her foot while she thought about how to respond.

"Well, I've always been a flirt. I don't think that's a surprise to anyone here, even if I wouldn't normally go as far as I did today. 'Look, but don't touch' and all that stuff, you know? If I need to step outside of my comfort zone a little in order to help someone, then sure, I'll do it. I won't lie and say that I didn't enjoy it a bit, but I won't apologize for that either. He's a cutie and the way he reacted made me feel sexy. Is that wrong? Does that make me an easy girl?"

"Of course it doesn't!" Kyoka immediately dismissed the notion, "Feeling attractive is a track that everyone can jam out to. It's always nice to know that someone can look at you and see something that they like. Why do you think so many musicians dress provocatively when it's concert time? I can only imagine what having all of those eyes on you must feel like."

"Don't say it like that, Kyoka-chan!" Mina said, rubbing the petite girl's head, "You're cute too, you know?"

"Um, Mina-chan?" Ochako piped up, "When you said 'how he reacted,' what exactly did you mean by that?"

Oh, curse the adorable innocence of this girl. Mina looked to her friends for assistance but was met with a wall of cruel silence.

"You're on your own for this one, Mina-chan." Tooru confirmed her sentence.

"Well, you see, Ochako-chan," Mina began, feeling more and more embarrassed as she went, "Midori is a healthy boy and he, um, _liked_ what I did back there to a certain extent. This is perfectly normal and not something he could help, I'm sure. Now, the thing about healthy and perfectly normal boys is that when they see something that they, ah, _like_ , they have a certain involuntary physical reaction that tells you without a doubt that they… _liked_ it."

She watched as realization slowly dawned on Ochako and she gradually achieved a shade of red that surpassed even Yaomomo's. As she watched her friend have a hormone-fueled breakdown to the point that her _breath_ became visible in the underground arena, Mina silently observed that having that much blood rush to one's head might not be healthy.

Healthy. Like Midori. Who was apparently packing one hell of a body underneath those clothes of his if her borderline-groping had told her anything.

…She might have some _thinking_ to do herself later.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Friday rolled around and Izuku was honestly no closer to a solution to All Might's extra assignment than he had been three days earlier. On the bus ride to USJ after class that day, he was frantically trying to piece something together so that he would have _something_ to show his idol, even if it didn't work.

"Well, Midoriya, my boy?" All Might regarded him with a steady gaze and folded arms as they stood in the Conflagration Zone, "Do you have anything you would like to show me?"

It was now or never.

"Well, Sensei, I do have one idea, but I'm honestly not sure if it'll work or not. I've thought really hard about this problem and this was the only thing that I could come up with."

"Fair enough, my boy. Take your time and show me what you have come up with."

It was a good thing that he wasn't in a rush, because Izuku only had a slight idea of what he was actually going to _do_.

 _Some things don't need to be planned out. Just go with your gut and trust your Quirk to do the rest._

Izuku closed his eyes and reached within himself, feeling for the power that he knew was there. He was fully-stocked on fire, so the power was extremely easy to locate. He needed to focus on only using a little bit of it. Without looking, he raised his hood and made sure everything was in place.

Izuku concentrated on trying to match his flame output with the now-familiar feeling of five-percent of One For All. It wanted to go higher, to surge and burn, but he forced it down.

 _Foot off the gas. Just let it idle._

He could feel the warmth as the flames licked his body, but the low power combined with his costume protected him. He could feel his reserves draining rapidly and he instinctively realized that this was because he was outputting flames at a constant rate. In theory this was unnecessary; once the initial spark was given, a fire should be able to keep burning with a comparatively small amount of fuel.

 _Reign it in. Don't let it do whatever it wants._

Izuku tried something that he had never tried before: he activated Flame Magnet while he was still outputting flames.

The strain was immediate. Keeping the output of One For All limited while also trying to hold the flames closer to his body took an unbelievable amount of concentration. His fuel reserves were decreasing more slowly now, but there was no way that Izuku could fight in such a condition.

 _Baby steps. Let's try opening our eyes and seeing what we've done._

Izuku slowly and deliberately opened his eyes, even such a simple thing as seeing was taking some small portion of his valuable concentration.

What he saw was not what he was expecting.

Izuku's body was covered in flames, yes, but Flame Magnet's influence was producing an interesting result. Namely, the flames had been pulled close to his body and had formed a sort of armor. It wasn't thin enough to be called a second skin and he knew that it wasn't practical enough to use in a fight but…Izuku would remember this.

"My boy?" All Might said cautiously, "Can you hear me? Are you able to speak?"

"…Yes." His speech was slow and deliberate. He needed to maintain his focus."

"How do you feel? Have you found the solution?"

"No. Too hard. Can't maintain."

"Let it go, my boy."

Izuku dutifully released his hold on One For All and Flame Magnet and immediately felt better. He also felt…cooler?

"I think I've found a problem with this besides the concentration issue."

"What is that?"

"Being literally covered in fire probably raises my body temperature. I felt a bit cold after letting it go."

"Humor me for a moment, my boy? Refill yourself and only do the first step this time."

Izuku immediately saw an issue with All Might's request, but did as he was asked. He took in enough flames to top himself off and re-ignited One For All across his entire body at minimum output, letting it burn.

"I thought about this at first too," Izuku admitted, "but there's a big problem with it. My output right now is at five percent, which is the same as my passive abilities with One For All, so I've limited the output of the flames to match that. Since they're running wild though, it consumes five percent worth of my fuel every second. I can't even keep this going for thirty seconds." as if to prove his point, his flames went out shortly after he had finished speaking, all of his fuel having been expended.

"But can you move?" All Might pressed.

"I can try."

"Please do."

Izuku refilled himself again and was surprised to see All Might transform into his muscle form.

"Use that new ability of yours and come at me with everything you have, my boy."

Well, that was one way to do a test drive.

 _Remember, just go with your gut and trust your Quirk._

Izuku ignited his body and charged at All Might, running full-tilt instead of using his normal pseudo-leaps.

The difference was like night and day.

Worried that he might overshoot, Izuku dropped into a skid and drove his fingers into the ground, causing his body to pivot sharply in an improvised leg sweep. All Might hopped over it easily, but Izuku had anticipated that and used his newfound agility to send himself rocketing towards his idol, letting fly with a straight punch as he did so.

All Might twisted impossibly in midair and caused Izuku to miss. Time seemed to slow down as Izuku grabbed onto the front of All Might's shirt with his free hand and used his momentum to bring his knee crashing into the Symbol of Peace's hand as he caught the blow.

Izuku felt amazing. It was like he had re-discovered One For All all over again. He didn't have to think or focus on his individual movements, he could just _move_. He wondered briefly if this was how Kacchan felt all the time with his freeform, acrobatic style of combat.

Speaking of Kacchan, maybe it was about time he put all those years of observation to good use?

Izuku seized All Might's wrist and vaulted over it in a spontaneous front-flip, bringing his heel blazing through the air with such velocity that a trail of fire followed in its wake. All Might dodged, because of course he did. That was all part of the plan. Izuku had already let fly with a wide left hook, shifting the angle of his spin ever so slightly. When that inevitably whiffed as well, he kept the spin going and brought a right hammer fist screaming through the air towards his teacher's head-

And then it was over. The power left him as abruptly as the light from a snuffed candle and, unable to keep up with his own momentum, Izuku landed sprawled out on the ground.

"Well, I would say that is certainly an improvement, my boy, wouldn't you?" All Might observed as he deflated.

Izuku sat up and shook his head.

"I don't know. It feels amazing for sure and I know that I'm a lot more fluid when I use it, but that makes me wonder exactly who it's useful against. My time limit is so short that I can't really rely on it for a drawn-out fight and if I'm facing someone who I could take down with just a few hits, then what's the point of using it in the first place? Wouldn't I just be better off using a fifteen or twenty percent Nevada Smash or something?"

"It could prove more valuable than you think, my boy." All Might wiggled a finger at him, "What if you are facing someone that you cannot land a clean hit on? What if they are too fast for you? This could prove to be an extremely useful ace-in-the-hole. Think of it as a final trump card that you can use to take your opponent by surprise. I would imagine that it could become more potent if you expended more fuel with it, yes?"

"It could, sure, but the time limit is so prohibitive as it is that I doubt I'd accomplish much if I pushed it too far. There just wouldn't be much of a difference between five seconds of twenty percent and seven seconds of fifteen, you know?"

"Perhaps, but perhaps not. Remember that every technique has its purpose. What you have accomplished here today was not a waste, my boy. Remember that."

Izuku stood and nodded.

"So?" All Might prompted. Izuku stared at him in confusion, unsure of what he wanted.

"A name, my boy! What will you name this technique?"

A name did occur to Izuku, but he hesitated before shaking his head.

"It's still missing something. It's an incomplete technique, so until I figure out what that is, I won't name it anything. I don't want to cling onto bad habits."

All Might nodded with approval.

"A respectable answer. I look forward to seeing it completed. On another note, do you have any special plans for your upcoming week-long vacation? I understand that the school's facilities will still be available to those who wish to make use of them, so perhaps we could fit in another session if you are not too busy?"

Izuku was aware of this. Kacchan had made the announcement that Fight Club would be held as usual the following Wednesday for those who wanted to come. A good portion of the class had confirmed that they would, so that was that.

"Well…I actually do have one thing planned that will take up the weekend." Izuku said, rubbing the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh-ho?" All Might leaned down, a mischievous grin on his gaunt face and a glint in his shadowed, blue eyes, "And what manner of weekend activities might have my young protégé looking so flustered, I wonder? Might they involve a certain special someone?"

"It's not like that!" Izuku protested as his mentor chuckled, "She's not my girlfriend ye- She's not my girlfriend!"

"Ha ha ha! Well, my boy, if things get heated between you and your not-girlfriend, then just make sure you don't go too far; you aren't sixteen yet, after all. Should you cross that threshold in spite of this, however, make sure to use protection."

In that moment Izuku was glad that he had expended all of his fuel, otherwise he might have gone up in flames right then and there.

 **We actually covered a lot of ground in this chapter compared to how the pacing has been going lately. I guess it's because I've done most of what I want to do before the Sports Festival comes around, with one exception that will be covered next chapter!**

 **My question this time is actually a bit different. Given how far we've come and how many new faces we've been seeing lately, I'd like to ask everyone this: How did you get into Torchbearer? Was it word of mouth? Did you spot it with the "fresh" label and decide to pick it up? I'm legitimately curious.**

 **Next time: the stargazing trip that we've been building to since Chapter Eighteen!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	28. Chapter 28: Decision Made

**So, we've got us a big chapter here. Biggest since 20, which just so happens to be the chapter when Izuku and Ochako's first date happened. Pattern? Perhaps. We're also on our way to hitting another 1K milestone, namely in the Favorites department! Dear god, I love my fans.  
**

 **Review time:**

 **Cieszesi Niezmiernie, BlazaWolf, Dright Lore, Mumblesnake, Voltrike92, sremiehzla, MarvelNinja10, Gako959, Dark Murcielago, jaciro500, CodeTalker69, TamashiHiro2701, chm01, Reverseflash, Archetype-Moon, Lordkabooshki42, Hawkright-01121999, storybookknight, bigdogneversleeps, C_J_Robbins, CaedmonCousland, ILiekFishes, The 0bservanc3, NuckiRuk, Sentinel07. LucklessBlock86 : Thank you all so much for responding to my question! It's super interesting to see how all of you got in to Torchbearer! I was particularly surprised by how many of you were introduced to it by other authors. I already knew that I had sremiehzla to thank for some of you, but knowing that even the author of the current number-one MHA fic has me on their list? That's a hell of a confidence-booster.  
**

 **Dark White Fang** **: It is indeed a reference to Bartender! Well done. Also glad that you enjoyed Mina getting her flirt on. She's a fun character to work with.**

 **bhennen : Oh for sure. I don't intend to have him only fight the girls forever, but this chapter should help you see what their plan was for him.**

 **Gako959 : I agree that Izuku with a copy Quirk could be interesting. Oh well, we'll just have to settle for Monoma, who's really smart in his own right.**

 **XenasBell : Yes. Well done.**

 **CaedmonCousland : Welcome aboard! Sports Festival will indeed be soon. Next chapter soon. Koda is getting his own help that I have neglected to show as of yet, but thank you for reminding me! I will make sure to show what is going on with him. I agree with your view on relationships and you are also correct about Bakugo in more ways than one. I've got big plans for the Sports Festival and I hope it lives up to the hype. 1-B will indeed have a stronger showing than in canon.**

 **Stetsonbennett : I do not currently have plans to make this a harem fic. I'm sure I could have a TON of fun with a harem fic and I do enjoy reading them on occasion, but that's not in the cards for Torchbearer. I too am a fan of MinaXDeku. Heck, Awkward Energy is one of my favorite fics ever, but maybe that's one of the reasons why I didn't go for it. QuirkQuartz already does an amazing job at it, so I'll leave that to them.**

 **ILiekFishes : Ah, I see that you too are a man of culture. I also am one who greatly appreciates the female form...mmmyes.**

 **LucklessBlock86 : Crap, did I screw that up again? I'll go fix it right after I'm done typing these responses. Thanks for pointing it out!**

 **The 0bservanc3 : The fact that you found getting inside a Villain's head to be jarring means that I did something right. They often see the world in fundamentally different ways than "normal" people and I wanted to convey the concept that Kurogiri is a classy guy who also happens to be totally cool with killing people when he has to and serving drinks to very dangerous people. Everyone is a person, even the Villains, and I will flesh them out just as readily as the good guys. After all, you can't be evil ALL the time, right?**

 **I have indeed done some research on bartending stuff. Mixing drinks is something of a hobby for me, though I'm mediocre at best. As far as I know, Stain's modus operandi was never entirely explained. He showed up, killed some Heroes, then moved on. The spin-off does get into his motives a bit more though, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be making full use of that.**

 **Izuku was responding to Ochako's assertion that everyone else contributed a lot more than she did in terms of making Katsuki's birthday a good one. Izuku responds that this is only true if she is talking strictly about money, implying that he thinks she contributed a lot more than just funds (in other words, she made things better just by being there. Also all the planning she did and stuff). Rest assured that the spirit of One For All will get an appearance. In fact, we're already seeing some buildup to it. *Mysterious sounds***

 **I honestly don't know where "nothing doing" is from. I would assume England, but I'm no linguist. Gran Torino, huh? Well...you'll see...or not. Do U.A. teachers also do internships? If they do, I've quite forgotten. Midnight would indeed be a good potential mentor for Mina. I didn't confirm that? Well...here's Chapter 28 for you. Also, I saw your idea and I thought long and hard about including it. I ended up not doing it because...she wouldn't be able to sustain this for too long without getting sick and that would kind of ruin the moment. Potential Zero-G cuddles after she trains up her Quirk some, perhaps?**

 **NuckiRuk : I KNOW, RIGHT? I hate finding a good story and then discovering that it's been discontinued. That's why I swore that I wouldn't write anything unless I was sure that I could see it through and...here we are, 200K+ words and 28 chapters later XD.**

 **LucklessBlock86 : Huh. That could actually be a really fun Omake segment. Just Kirishima making the group watch various "old" movies. I'll probably do that. In fact, why not make it canon? That would be the perfect thing to do once they move into housing on the nights when they aren't playing Mutants and Masterminds (no, I have not forgotten about this suggestion from so very, very long ago).**

 **uchihaNaruto247, Mrguy22594, Sentinel07, tanithlipsky, otsuka, Guest, D3lph0xL0v3r, dragonightmare and everyone else: Thank you for your support and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, the stargazing date that we've been waiting on for the past...two months? Jesus Christ. Well, I suppose that's nothing compared to the Sports Festival that people have been waiting on _since the fic started._ JK, I'm excited for it too.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Decision Made

Izuku Midoriya was quadruple-checking the pack containing the things he was bringing with him on his weekend trip with Uraraka while his mother watched from one side with an amused smile.

He had discussed things in more detail with Uraraka a few days prior, when they both hammered out who would be bringing what and where and when they would meet that morning. The morning in question was Saturday, May fourth, otherwise known as Greenery Day. It was a day meant to celebrate nature and thus a fitting day to set off on a trip to go stargazing.

The day was perfect. The weather was set to be perfect. Uraraka had done this sort of thing before so their campsite would most likely be perfect. Everything was perfect.

So, you know, no pressure or anything.

Inko, taking pity on her son's plight, stopped him from re-re-re-re-emptying the bag and checking everything yet again.

"Honey, you're fine. Everything's going to be fine. You've got everything you need, plus that thoughtful little add-on."

Izuku sighed and leaned against a nearby wall.

"I know, Mom. It's just that Uraraka-san's been really, _really_ looking forward to this and I don't want to mess it up."

"Izuku," Inko gave her son a knowing smile, "from what you've told me about this girl, she sounds like the type who will be ecstatic just to be able to share this with you. Don't try too hard to make everything perfect; just relax and enjoy yourself. I think you'd do more to ruin things if you spent the whole time tense and worried, don't you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right, Mom." Izuku zipped up the large pack and hefted it onto his shoulders. It was about time for him to get going and it was always a good idea to leave early just in case. He stepped forward and gave his mother a hug.

"See you tomorrow, Mom."

"See you tomorrow, Izuku. Be safe, alright?"

"I will."

Izuku turned and walked out the door, beginning his descent down the apartment stairs. If he had taken a moment to look back, he would have seen his mother starting to tear up with a big smile on her face.

It was, after all, the first time that Izuku would be spending the night away from her with someone other than the Bakugo family. Her little boy was growing up.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Ochako Uraraka was bustling around her small apartment and doing a bit of last-minute packing. Honestly, it had been an oversight on her part. How could she have forgotten about something so basic?! Still, an early morning dash to the store and a flurry of cooking had resolved that issue quite nicely in her opinion.

Then, of course, she had to clean and dry the dishes. Leaving them to sit overnight like that would be a big no-no. Her parents had always said that whenever you left on a trip you should always make sure that everything at home was taken care of first, that way you wouldn't be distracted by the nagging feeling that there was still something left to take care of.

Ochako approved of this concept; she didn't want anything to distract her from her trip with Deku.

After all, she had more than just a good time riding on this. She had not forgotten her promise to herself from the previous week. If anything, her resolve had only grown stronger.

"Okay, there!" she nodded triumphantly to herself, "Everything's all set! I should still have about ten minutes or so before Deku-kun gets he-"

* **Knock knock knock** *

Ochako found herself interrupted mid-sentence by a series of polite knocks coming from her door. Had she mistaken the time? No, the clock definitely still said ten-twenty. Was he early?

This was Deku. Of course he would be early.

That didn't change the fact that her heart was beating about a million miles an hour right then, but it wasn't the worst scare that he had ever given her.

Far from it.

"Deku-kun, good morning!" she greeted him as she opened the door, giving him a quick once-over as she did so.

He was dressed comfortably, but practically. He had the same red boots as always along with a pair of dark cargo pants and a white t-shirt with All Might's face on it. He also had a dark green hoodie tied around his waist, presumably to prepare for the evening cold. Good idea.

There was also the matter of the large canvas pack that he had over his shoulders. It looked pretty full and Ochako felt a pang of guilt over making him walk all the way from the station to her apartment carrying it. He didn't look tired or uncomfortable though. On the contrary, he gave her one of his infectious smiles.

"Good morning, Uraraka-san! Sorry for being early, I just didn't want to risk making us late."

"Nope!" she shook her head, "You're just fine! Your timing is actually pretty good: I just finished packing my stuff. Still gotta get my shoes on though, so why don't you come in for a sec?"

He obliged, closing the door behind him and setting the pack down in the entryway before scanning the apartment curiously. Uraraka silently thought that he was likely to be disappointed. After all, there wasn't really anything interesting about the place.

Her bed was the dominating feature of the one-room abode, sitting in the center of her living space. Across from this was an old TV sitting on top of her dresser with a simple desk off to the side against the wall. The only doors in the area led to her closet and her bathroom. Add in a tiny corner kitchenette and voila: casa de Ochako.

"It's nice." he said as she did up her shoelaces.

"Thank you, Deku-kun, but I know you're just saying that to be nice."

"No, I mean it." he said, "It's simple, sure, but it's also got this warm, welcoming atmosphere. It feels…honest?" he spent a moment seemingly searching for a better word before shrugging, "I don't know. I guess it just feels like _you_ , you know?"

Ochako took a bit longer to finish adjusting her shoes than may have been strictly necessary in order to give herself time to force the heat away from her face. Her parents had always teased her good-naturedly about how easily she blushed because of her fair skin, but she found it really annoying sometimes.

"Alright, Deku-kun! Let's get going!" she hefted her pack, letting out a small "oof" as she grew accustomed to the weight while he, meanwhile, picked his back up with barely a sound.

"Deku-kun, do you want me to use Zero Gravity to make that lighter?"

"Hmm?" he blinked, looking as thought he idea hadn't even occurred to him, "No, that's fine. It's really not that heavy."

She took it from him for a moment and would have let it drop if he hadn't reacted in time to prevent it.

"Holy cow!" she exclaimed, "That's got to be at least three times as heavy as mine! Exactly how strong _are_ you, Deku-kun?!" he shouldered his pack and gave a self-deprecating chuckle.

"I'm really nothing special."

Ochako disagreed with this statement, but settled for rolling her eyes and leading him out of her apartment.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

They arrived at the bus station with time to spare and Izuku watched with fascination as Uraraka retrieved their tickets from the kiosk that she had told him about before. As predicted, it required a scan of both his and her student ID's in order to retrieve them. There were four tickets for each of them: two for the highway bus and two for the local bus once they had reached Hokuto.

As Uraraka had predicted, the layered discount they had received was substantial.

"Let's see…" she reviewed the bus schedule, "yep, eleven AM on the dot. We still have about seven minutes before it leaves, but we should go find the bus just in case."

They did so and it turned out that this was the first trip of the day for that particular bus, so it was there for them to board early.

"It'll take about two hours to get to Hokuto, so let's grab a seat in the back." she suggested, "We can put our bags on the floor and not be in anybody's way."

"Good idea." he agreed and soon the pair were seated together in the rear corner of the bus.

As it turned out, they needn't have worried. Several more people boarded but the bus was nowhere close to being even half-full.

"Direct line to Hokuto. Approximate travel time is two hours." the driver announced before pulling out of the station.

"So, have you ever been out this way before, Deku-kun?" Uraraka asked. Izuku shook his head.

"Nope. I've been a city boy for pretty much my whole life. I've been camping a couple times, sure, but not this far out."

"Wow, so this is a whole bunch of firsts for you, huh?"

"Yeah, this whole _month_ has been a bunch of firsts." he remarked.

"Yeah…" her eyes glazed over for a moment before she shook her head slightly and came back to her senses, "heck, even just this past Wednesday you had a first! You managed to fight off Mina-chan…almost!"

"Almost." he laughed at her frank statement and the memory that it sparked.

 _It was Wednesday afternoon and somewhat earlier than Fight Club was usually held, given that there had been no class that day. A few students were missing from the group, but most had been able to make it. Izuku had finished mentally preparing himself for another several rounds of combat with the girls when Ashido had approached him, flanked only by Uraraka and Jiro._

" _Sorry, Midori, but you only get the three of us today. You can't have all the girls to yourself all the time! It's just not fair to everyone else." she grinned at her own joke and then strutted over to the nearest ring that had been spray-painted on the ground, "Well, come on! Let's get this show on the road!"_

 _Izuku was momentarily taken aback, but quickly accepted that he couldn't always expect to work his way up the ranks. Sometimes it would be rough right from the get-go and he needed to get used to that. With a resigned sigh, he stepped into the ring and raised his guard. Across from him, Ashido did the same._

 _The bell rang and Izuku prepared himself for the worst as Ashido charged him, right fist cocked back. The attack was clearly telegraphed and Izuku had no difficulty evading with a simple sway of his head. He expected her to close in or say something licentious, but instead she followed up with a roundhouse kick that he caught in the crook of his elbow and then proceeded to lift, trapping it with his other hand._

" _What's the matter, Midori?" Ashido purred, "You look confused. Or did you just want to return the favor from last time?"_

" _What are you up to?" Izuku demanded._

" _I'm fighting you. I thought that was obvious." she responded with a twinkle in her yellow-on-black eyes that did absolutely nothing to make her look less than guilty, "Here, maybe a quick shock to your system will help make things CLEAR!"_

 _She utilized the considerable flexibility and balance that she had displayed at the arcade to rotate her body and deliver a massive kick to Izuku's hastily-constructed guard when he saw her leg heading for his head. This freed her initial leg, allowing her to follow through and send him sprawling._

 _Izuku quickly regained his feet. His arms had felt the force of that kick for sure, but his head was still clear. He had just been knocked down because it had been unexpected. He didn't have too much time to think about things since Ashido had already begun to close with him again, eager to re-engage._

 _With no time to think, all Izuku could do was react. His body instinctively moved in accordance with the motions he and Kacchan had developed over the course of the hundreds of matches they had had and before he fully realized what had happened, Izuku found himself with his feet planted wide apart, arm extended from where he had just launched Ashido with a powerful palm strike to the chest._

" _Wow, Midori! That was a good one!" she coughed from the ground a few feet away._

" _Oh, crap! Are you okay, Ashido-sa-GAK!"_

 _When Izuku had moved to help her up, Ashido had hooked his legs with her own and brought him crashing to the floor with a wrench of her powerful lower body that ended with her looming over him with a fist streaking towards his solar plexus._

" _HA!" her pink fist drove into his unprepared diaphragm, forcing all of the air out of his lungs and effectively ending the match._

" _Guh…*_ _ **cough**_ _*" Izuku struggled to regain his air and allowed himself to be helped to his feet by Ashido._

" _That was a lot better than last time, Midori. You've still got issues with calling things a bit too early though. I was still raring to go."_

" _I can…see that."_

" _Still, it looks like our plan worked like a charm, eh, girls?"_

It had been revealed to Izuku that part of the reason that Ashido had poured it on so heavily the first time was in accordance with the old "rip the bandage off" philosophy: if she gave him the worst she could think of (within the realm of relative decency), then a regular match would seem like no big deal by comparison.

" _You're not out of the woods yet though, mister!"_ she had emphasized, _"I'm not convinced that you've completely gotten over your issue, especially not that quickly. I'm going to be mixing it up from now on when you least expect it, so be ready for that! Also, apart from that one hit, you never actually tried to attack me, so that's still a problem. You can't win that way."_

Still, Izuku thought, credit where credit was due: the girls had played him like a fiddle and he really did feel like they had taught him something.

BESIDES what a nice body Ashido has, thank you very much, Other Izuku. That was a set of images that he had worked very hard at suppressing. Hadn't gotten to sleep until an hour past what he usually did for the rest of the week thanks to that.

Yes, he was a teenage boy. Sue him.

It was about that time that Izuku noticed that Uraraka had fallen asleep with her head resting on his shoulder.

 _Duh. Of course she's tired; she's the one orchestrating all of this so she probably spent even more time stressing about it than I did._

… _Mom was right. I need to just relax and enjoy this._

Having decided on the best course of action, Izuku set his phone to wake him in an hour and joined Uraraka in her nap.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku awoke precisely one hour later as his phone vibrated in his pocket, feeling rejuvenated. He deactivated the alarm and put his phone back into sleep mode to conserve battery before turning his head slightly to check on Uraraka. Sure enough, she was still asleep. They were set to arrive at Hokuto in around twenty minutes, so he waited another ten before gently shaking her awake.

He got a sense of déjà vu as she sleepily opened her eyes and blinked at him a few times before her brain started working again. She really did look absolutely adorable when she had just woken up.

"Gotta be careful…" she mumbled, "this is becoming a habit."

"Not one I particularly mind though." he chipped in.

Her response was to shove him half-heartedly on the shoulder, causing him to bounce off of the wall of the bus.

"No teasing. Just woke up."

"Fair enough. I'm not teasing you though. Well, I guess _now_ I am, but only because you made me."

She simply made a "hmph" sound and collapsed back onto his shoulder, giving a huge yawn as she did so.

"Are you alright?" Izuku felt the need to ask.

"Yeah." she responded, sounding a bit more awake, "I'm just a bit tired I guess: I got up early this morning. I'll catch another nap on the bus to Minamimaki and I'll be just fine after that. Promise."

As they exited the highway bus and made their way to the nearby stop for the local bus that would take them to Minamimaki, Izuku marveled at how casually he was able to interact with Uraraka, in spite of the familiar gestures they were making, such as sleeping on each other.

Had he gotten some sort of confidence boost from Fight Club? Had he just grown used to Uraraka, or was it something else?

Maybe he was just taking his mother's advice to heart? Maybe it was this incredibly fresh and clean countryside air?

Who knew?

They only had to wait about ten minutes for the local bus to arrive and then the pair were once again on the move with Uraraka having fallen back asleep almost as soon as they had sat down. The country road was rougher and a lot more winding than the highway had been, so Izuku put his arm around Uraraka's waist to keep her in place.

For safety purposes.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The bus ride to Minamimaki ended up taking about forty-five minutes and Ochako felt much better after her second nap of the day. Good thing too: she would have hated being too tired to stay up for the late-night viewing.

Minamimaki itself was a small, rural town to the east of the Yatsugatake mountain range. As she was explaining to Deku, they would be hiking west for about three hours in order to A) get far enough away from the town that their lights wouldn't interfere and B) gain a bit more elevation so as to be able to see the night sky better. Specifically, they were headed to the Nobeyama Highlands at the base of Yatsugatake itself.

In all honesty, the hike would be relatively simple. They would be following established roads that led the way to the mountains, breaking trail only once they neared their destination.

Ochako had made sure to bring a map and after verifying their route with a kindly old couple and taking a moment to use a public restroom, they were on their way.

As they started along the road, they passed a school that had a sports field full of decorations, kites and laughing children. After waving at a few kids that had noticed them, Ochako wondered aloud if their classmates were doing anything special.

"Well, I know Kacchan and his family were going out of town to visit some relatives." Deku explained, "I think that Shoji-san was doing something similar, which is why he wasn't at the club on Wednesday. I'm not really sure about anyone else, sorry. I've had a lot on my mind recently."

"Does it have anything to do with the extra lessons you've been having with All Might-sensei?" she hazarded. Judging from how he pursed his lips and closed his eyes for a moment, it seemed like she was on the mark. He confirmed this a moment later.

"Yeah. I know that I can't just keep using my Quirk the same way I have been, so I've been working with him to try and find a better way of utilizing it. You know," he added with a grimace, "one that doesn't land me in the infirmary quite as often."

They had well and truly exited Minamimaki by this point and the greenery was becoming wilder and thicker. A combination of trees and shrubs loomed over the road, one side of which was protected by a concrete barrier that gave everything a slightly skewed perspective.

"Have you figured anything out?" Ochako continued their conversation after a few minutes, "About using your Quirk, I mean."

"Sort of." he responded in a slow manner, as though he was taking the time to carefully choose his words, "I've found a workaround for only being able to use it in one limb at a time, but at the moment it's just too inefficient. I can only keep it going for about twenty-two seconds right now and that's only if I've got a full tank. The Conflagration Zone at USJ is great for practicing, but I can't count on such easy access to fuel in a real situation."

It came down to managing resources then. Ochako could understand that: she basically lived it, after all.

"The thing is," Deku continued, "I _know_ what the solution is. Well, sort of. It's just that actually implementing it takes so much concentration that I can't really do anything else. It's like trying to look left and right at the same time and I only know one person who can do that."

That was true. Shoji could look left, right, up, down, forward and backward all at once and still have a hand free to do something else with. Ochako tried to imagine what that would be like, but it gave her a headache.

"Don't you just have to practice it more then?" she suggested. He shook his head.

"I honestly don't think it's that simple. I just…I have this gut feeling that I'm doing something fundamentally wrong and I don't want to make a habit out of it."

Ochako wished there was something that she could do to help him. This was obviously something that had been gnawing at him for a while now. Heck, it would drive her crazy too: having all that power and not being able to use it? That would suck. She could barely imagine how it must be to have all that talent and not be able to put it to use.

Deku would deny it, of course. He would deny it until he was blue in the face; it was just the sort of humble guy he was. Still, to be born with a Quirk like that and still not be able to use it because it could scorch and break your body? Nature could be cruel sometimes.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out, Deku-kun. You're pretty much the smartest guy I know, so if you can't do it…then I guess it just means that it can't be done!"

Ochako was pretty proud of that bit of encouragement, so it irritated her a bit when Deku started laughing.

"Hey! Just 'cause I'm not as good with words as you or Iida-kun doesn't mean you have to be a meanie about it!"

"No, no Ura- * **snrk** * Uraraka-san," Deku got himself back under control, "I'm not laughing at you, just what you said." he took a long, slow breath to steady himself as they passed by a grassy clearing with a dirt road that led to an isolated building of some kind, possibly a house, "It's just, well, I think it was exactly what I needed to hear. This is something that I _have_ to do, meaning that I have no choice but to find a way. If I'm the only one who can figure it out like you said, then that means it _has_ to be possible!" he gave her a smile and a determined fist pump, "Plus Ultra!"

"Yeah," she nodded enthusiastically, mirroring his gesture with her own arm, "Plus Ultra!"

The spent the next hour or so in silence, passing several dirt paths branching off from the main road. Some looked like they might be driveways, but there were others that curved off into the wooded areas and were overcome by shadows.

This was an area that belonged to nature; she just allowed humans to pass through as a matter of course. The road wound through on a constant slight incline, taking them ever higher with only the guardrails that were in places almost completely obscured by foliage there to prevent what would be a deadly fall for an ordinary person.

There came a point when they reached a stretch of road that was largely straight for some distance. It was only then that they truly grasped the scale of what they were traversing. The furthest piece of road seemed to loom over them like a hill due to the incline.

Twice in quick succession they passed Y-intersections that split the road and had to consult their map to make sure they chose the correct one. After the second of these the road became noticeably older and more worn. The yellow paint was faded and the asphalt was cracked like a pane of glass with little bits of greenery poking through.

A single-lane road, constructed who knew how many years ago, winding its way ever upwards towards the Yatsugatake mountains.

Then there was a sudden break in the trees off the right side of the road and the relative shade gave way to an endless expanse of sky and fields that they were only separated from by a few layers of wire fencing.

"Look." Deku pointed towards the horizon at what first appeared to be some low-flying clouds, but when Ochako's eyes adjusted, she felt her lips open slightly in a soundless exclamation of wonder.

Across the massive field, faded by a combination of distance and shadows were rows of small mountains that stretched from one end of the horizon to the other.

"Incredible, isn't it?" he said.

All she could do was nod.

They admired the view for a minute or two, but then continued on their way. They only had so long before dark, after all.

Another mile or so down the path, Deku made a thoughtful noise that caused Ochako to give him a curious look.

"Oh," he elaborated, "I was just thinking about how long it must have taken to make these roads. I mean, these are clearly super-old, so it would have been even more difficult way back then, right? You'd have to clear the way first, then you'd have to manage to transport all of the materials so far into the trail…it's just really mind-boggling is all."

"Wow, yeah, I've never really thought about that." she admitted, "Do you think about things like this a lot, Deku-kun?"

"Sometimes." he shrugged.

They came to a sharp curve in the road and Deku pointed at the map where the road made a long, oblong curve due to the sudden change in elevation.

"You know…I think we could save some time here." he said.

"How?"

"Well, if the map is accurate, then the road should continue in almost exactly the same direction up the side of this mountain here, right?"

"More or less, yeah."

"Remember what we did back a couple of weeks ago to get up that building? I'm thinking that, except this time you'll make both of us weightless in short bursts."

This was unexpected. And exciting. Ochako hadn't been planning on Deku having an adventurous streak like this, though in retrospect she supposed that all Hero-hopefuls had to have at least _some_ of an adventurous streak.

There was one slight problem, however.

"Deku-kun, I can't fit on your back with your pack in the way."

He considered this for a moment, eyes widening briefly as he apparently had an idea. His face reddened for a moment before he shook his head and slapped his cheeks, adopting a determined expression.

"Uraraka-san, do you trust me?"

It was a surprising question, so she didn't answer immediately. It was surprising not only because it had been unexpected, but also because she couldn't believe that he had to ask such a thing at this point.

How could she _not_ trust him?

"Of course I do, Deku-kun."

"Okay, then here's what we're going to do…"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku almost couldn't believe what he was about to attempt. It was crazy. Reckless.

But he was completely confident that the two of them could manage it. It was simple physics, really: the only thing stopping people from leaping incredible distances was gravity. If there was someone, for example, Uraraka, that could remove the effects of gravity…

Well, there was nothing to stop one from leaping tall buildings in a single bound or, in this case, a mountain.

Same principle, really.

Now he just had to _do_ it.

"Uraraka-san, are you all set?"

"Umm…y-yeah, Deku-kun. I'm good."

She was a bit pink in the face and given her current position, he couldn't exactly blame her. The only reason he wasn't in a similar state was that he was currently in full-on analysis mode and didn't have the time to be embarrassed.

Where before she had clung onto his back, this time she was clinging to his front. Her legs were wrapped around his waist while her arms were around his neck. Her head, slightly turned to the side, was resting against the left side of his chest while he had his left arm looped around her to hold her in place. With how they were positioned, his limbs, with the exception of his left arm, should have full range of motion and he would be able to keep her from getting hurt if things went badly.

"Deku-kun, are you sure that you don't want me to use my Quirk?"

"Not yet." he confirmed, "I don't want you to tax yourself too badly. This will be pointless if you end up getting sick."

That tree? No. _That_ one. Tall and sturdy with thick branches. That would do nicely.

"Alright, Uraraka-san. Just like we talked about."

Her positioning also allowed her to reach both her pack and his own in addition to the two of them. Her pack was made weightless first, then his, then his body, then hers last of all in order to minimize the strain. The distance factor wouldn't be an issue, since they were in the same place relative to each other.

Time to test his theory.

Izuku jumped without the aid of One For All, shooting up the side of the tree and dodging or breaking through any branches that were in the way until he had reached the top.

"Cut it off and redo the packs!" he barked as he grabbed onto the top of the tree and maneuvered his feet over a branch that looked like it could hold their weight.

She complied and the branch proved sturdy. Now that the treeline wasn't in the way anymore, Izuku had a much clearer view of the situation. The side of the mountain was indeed far too steep for a road to run straight up it. A weightless human missile, however? No problem.

"Okay, here comes the big one. I'm going to aim us approximately where the road should be relative to the section we just came off of, but you might need to act quickly for us to land safely."

"I can do it."

He believed her.

"Okay, one…two…THREE!"

Izuku used a smash leap to launch the pair of them at an upwards angle towards where he had seen a glint of yellow and orange on the side of the mountain that likely came from a road sign.

Such a powerful leap was necessary for two reasons. First, Izuku didn't want to tax Uraraka's Quirk too badly. Second, even if they were weightless, they were not formless. Therefore, wind resistance would still play a part in slowing them down. Izuku planned on using this to their advantage: if they had slowed down a bit by the time they reached their destination, it would be easier to land.

It was a good thing he was so busy calculating and re-calculating everything in his head based on the feeling of the wind whipping through his hair and the sensations picked up by his body as it screamed through the air, or else Izuku might have remembered that what he was doing was absolutely terrifying.

 _A month for firsts indeed. Let's go ahead and add_ _ **flying**_ _to the list. Why the hell not?_

Uraraka, meanwhile, was pressed so tightly against him that he was fairly certain she was actually making them _more_ aerodynamic by not allowing any air to pass between them.

On an intellectual level, Izuku knew that their trip through the air could not have taken more than a handful of seconds.

Damned if it didn't feel like an eternity though.

There. He could see the road again. It looked like he had overshot a bit, but too far was preferable to not far enough in this situation, so that was fine.

The speed at which they were still moving, however, might pose a bit of a problem.

Izuku righted himself in midair and spread his legs and his free arm wide, feeling the wind dragging on them. He was slowing them down, yes, but not quickly enough.

"Hold on!" he yelled as he shifted his left arm so that his palm was on the back of her head, burying her face into his collar as he inhaled and called up One For All.

 _No time for precision…somewhere between ten and fifteen percent should be fine!_

Izuku pursed his lips and spewed forth a stream of flames that lasted for a solid four seconds before he judged that they had slowed enough and cut it off.

There. A tree. That would work.

"Release!" he shouted and felt gravity take hold once more as she complied.

"Zero the packs!" they were descending a bit too quickly. Removing the weight of the packs helped a bit, "Brace!"

He felt her arms tighten around him even more as he gave the dreaded final command.

"Smash!" Izuku tensed his one-armed guard the moment before impact and in doing so prevented his arm from snapping in multiple places and his shoulder from being dislocated.

"Phew…" he sagged against the trunk of the tree, gripping a nearby branch to steady the two of them, "Are you alright, Uraraka-san?"

"You mean apart from the fact that I might have had a heart attack?"

"Yeah, sorry. That was dumb."

"It was really dumb."

"At least we're okay though."

"Like, _super_ dumb."

"You wanna get down from the tree?"

"No. I'm mad at you right now."

"Is it that you might have trouble standing?"

"I'm so mad that my legs don't work."

"Then I guess I'll just have to keep carrying you?"

"That's your punishment."

"Fair enough. Could you make me weightless for a moment though?"

She gave him a half-hearted glare and did as he asked, allowing him to easily hop down from the tree and land them on the ground, upon which she released her Quirk.

"Alright, let's keep going then."

A few minutes later, she spoke up.

"You can put me down, Deku-kun."

"Are you sure? If you haven't recovered yet then I can keep going."

"It's fine." he set her down.

"Sorry about that."

"It's alright. I agreed to it, so it's my fault too. Besides, you probably saved us at least half an hour. We are _not_ doing that on the way back though, got it?"

"I agree completely."

"Good."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

All told, it was just after five o'clock when the pair reached their intended campsite. Ochako had noticed that this particular spot, which was only about a quarter mile away from the road, was relatively clear of view-obstructing trees. It was also elevated a bit higher, so that would help too.

She had calmed down at this point, not that she was ever really that mad at Deku to begin with. She was just been coming down from one hell of an adrenaline rush and had been feeling a bit more aggressive than usual.

Damn Deku and his apparent nerves of steel whenever it came to anything like that. Being all brave and reliable. Who did he think he was, a Hero?

Ochako chuckled to herself as she helped Deku set up their small tent. She was holding the frame in place while he staked it to the ground to prevent it from blowing away, using his foot for lack of a hammer.

"There, that should do it." he said, sounding satisfied. "Next is pillows and sleeping bags."

They extracted the specified things from their respective packs and she volunteered to arrange them in the tent.

"It's gonna be a tight fit." she observed, "We'll really be elbow-to-elbow in here, but it should work. Gimme the pillows first."

He did as she asked. Once she had arranged the pillows, he handed her his sleeping bag, which she proceeded to unroll. With the length of the bags plus the pillows, the tent would _just_ be able to zip closed. Once he handed Ochako _her_ sleeping bag though, that was when problems arose.

She saw that it had come slightly unzipped and the zipper was stuck when she tried to close it, so she tried opening it a bit further, hoping that this would solve the issue and let her close it. When this didn't work, her only choice was to open it a bit further. Then a bit more. Then more.

Then it was completely unzipped and she had no idea what to do next.

"Deku-kun," she whined, "my sleeping bag won't listen to me! Tag in and I'll get dinner put together." she crawled out of the tent to see him squatting by the opening with a surprised look on his face.

"How did you know?"

"How did I know what?"

"That I brought dinner."

"You did what?" Ochako hadn't seen that one coming.

"Yeah, I mean, we never really talked about it and I thought that I'd make something simple just in case."

"I realized that we forgot to figure the food situation out just this morning, so I made something too. That's why I was up early." she admitted, then started and pointed her finger at him, "Deku-kun! You already took care of bringing the water, so it should have been my job to bring the food! It's not fair that I made you do so much!"

His response, again, was not what she was expecting.

"You can cook?"

"What's that supposed to mean? Of course I can cook!"

"I didn't want to assume!" he raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Wait, Deku-kun, _you_ can cook?" she turned his question back on him.

"A bit. I only really learned how to make things that I like and I don't have much occasion to practice, so it's nothing special. What did you bring, Uraraka-san?"

"Hambagu and veggies. You?"

"Tonkatsu and rice."

That gave her an idea.

"Deku-kun, you take care of the bedding and I'll take care of the food."

"Check the front pouch!" he called after her from inside the tent.

Curious, Ochako took out the two containers that contained the steaks and mixed vegetables that she had prepared that morning and set them aside. Then she retrieved the pork cutlets and rice from Deku's pack, noticing that the rice was in a big bowl. That would be perfect for her plan. When she checked the small front pouch of the pack as he had instructed, she found a bottle of tonkatsu sauce along with two pairs of chopsticks and a knife intended to be used to cut the meat.

He really did think of everything, didn't he? Well she could be tricky too!

Ochako took Deku's contribution back over by her pack and spread a thick blanket on the ground that was large enough for them to comfortably sit and lie on later. She plopped herself down on the blanket and went to work with a grin on her face.

When Deku exited the tent a few minutes later looking as though her sleeping bag had put up one hell of a fight, Ochako giggled at him and turned in place, holding out the results of her labor.

"Ta-dah! It's a tonkatsu-hambagu rice bowl with veggies!" she had meticulously diced the meats and vegetables before mixing them thoroughly with the rice and drizzling tonkatsu sauce over the whole thing. It was fortunate that he had brought such a large bowl, else everything wouldn't have fit.

"That looks really, really good." he stated, his stomach rumbling loudly in agreement. Ochako didn't blame him for being hungry: neither of them had eaten since breakfast and they had just spent the past two-and-a-half hours hiking. Frankly, she was starving too.

Without further ado, he sat down next to her, accepted his pair of chopsticks, and the two attacked their food voraciously.

By the time they were both full, the sun had started to set in earnest and they still had about a third of the food left.

"Well…guess that's breakfast." he said after draining what remained of his second bottle of water, the first having been mostly drained during the hike.

They weren't worried about running out since he had completely overkilled it and brought a twenty-four-pack with him, which made Ochako wonder yet again just how strong he really was. He had blazed an eight-and-a-half-mile trail with her (even if a large portion of that had been cut out by his little stunt) that increased their elevation by at least twenty-eight hundred feet while carrying a tent, sleeping bag, pillow, twenty-four-pack of water, half of their dinner and the notebook that she knew he had in there somewhere, all without complaining even once. Hell, he barely looked tired!

They passed the time until the sun had completely set by chatting idly, excusing themselves in turn to use nature's bathroom, or just watching the sky change colors.

Soon enough, it had darkened to the point where they could start to see stars, but even after the sun had seemingly completely set, she told him they still had at least an hour to wait before it was dark enough to properly stargaze. Something about how the sun's light still impacted visibility even if you couldn't see it in the sky or something like that. She couldn't remember completely. The point was they still had to wait.

That didn't stop Deku though. He laid down on the blanket and folded his arms behind his head, watching as more and more of the hidden cosmos revealed itself to him.

At first there were stars and a few blinking lights that might have been satellites.

Then there was more.

As time passed, patches of sky that had previously been empty were revealed to have fainter stars, then star clusters, nebulae, clouds of color that were always present but seldom visible.

Ochako joined him on the ground about half an hour after he had started watching in earnest and as the full splendor of the clear evening sky was revealed it took her breath away just like it always did.

"What do you think?" she asked quietly, turning her head so she could see his expression.

He turned his own to face her properly and he had such a look of reverence and wonder on his face that Ochako found herself breathless for the second time in less than five minutes.

"It's beautiful." he said, "I've seen pictures, yeah, but…it all falls short of reality. It's like the difference between seeing your favorite Hero on TV or in the newspaper and meeting them in real life. They're both amazing in their own way but…" he trailed off.

"One just can't compare to the other." she finished for him, getting a sideways nod of agreement.

"Uraraka-san?" she was about to resume watching the sky when he suddenly spoke.

"Yes, Deku-kun?"

"Thank you for sharing this with me. It's…it's more than I imagined. Not just this part but…the whole thing."

"Thank me later." she advised, "We aren't done yet."

They watched the sky together, pointing out the occasional constellation or unusual cosmic pattern. Neither could say for certain how long this went on, but eventually, as it always did, the vastness of space started to have effects on Ochako. Deku too, judging by his next statement.

"It makes you think, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…" she eventually worked up her nerve to just ask him outright.

"Deku-kun, do you ever wonder…whether or not you deserve to be a Hero?" she bit the last part off, forcing herself to finish the question that plagued her in the quiet moments when she allowed herself to sit and think.

 _Of course he doesn't. Deku was_ born _to be a Hero. He's a completely different type of person than I am. What a stupid question._

"All the time."

That caused her head to whip around so quickly that some of her hair fell across her face. She swiped it out of the way and was about to ask him to explain himself when he went ahead and did it without being asked.

"I know that, as a Hero, people's lives will be in my hands. I'll be the one they look to when they have no other hopes left and I'll be the one with their blood on my hands if I fail." he raised his hands in front of his face to emphasize his point and clenched them into fists, "If I do well enough, I'll have a target painted on my back from any Villains looking to prove how tough they are. Maybe they'll even start targeting people they know I'm close with if they don't think they can take me head-on. I'll have even more people to protect and what's worse, they'll be the ones that matter to me the most. It'll be my fault they were ever in danger in the first place."

His fists impacted the ground with a pair of thuds that were muffled by the blanket as he allowed them to fall back to the ground.

"With all that in mind…yeah. I wonder all the time if I can be good enough. If I can be strong enough."

 _So he worries about that too? He's just like me?_

The realization made her feel a new connection with the Hero-in-Training lying next to her, but at the same time it also made her feel a sense of hopelessness.

"I guess I've got no chance then, huh?"

"What?" he had turned to look at her, his green eyes searching.

"I mean, if someone as amazing as _you_ feels that way, then what hope do _I_ have?"

"How can you say that about yourself?" he looked worried now.

"I'm just being objective, Deku-kun. It's not that I don't think my Quirk is good enough but…compared to yours? Bakugo's? Todoroki's? Tokoyami's? Iida's? Yaomomo's? Kaminari's? I'm just not in the same league and that's not even talking about everything _else_ that's wrong with me, or did you forget that I'm just in it for the money at the end of the day?" she laughed mirthlessly, "It's not that I'm not cut out to be a Hero: I flat-out don't _deserve_ to be one."

"That's enough." he had sat up at this point and was looking at her in a way that he never had before. His mouth was set in a thin line and his narrowed eyes were filled with an intensity that made her shiver as she mirrored his movements.

"Uraraka-san, the simple fact that you're worried about this _at all_ means that you deserve to be a Hero." he spoke with such conviction that she didn't dare contradict him or interrupt him, "The fact that you're worried about whether or not you can fulfill the duties of a Hero and whether or not you can be worthy to fill the shoes of those who came before you…any person that's never wondered those things doesn't deserve to be called a Hero."

Was the subtle orange glow in his eyes from the lantern they had lit, or did it come from somewhere deeper?

"Every Hero has doubts, even All Might! I know because _he told me himself_!" his voice was shaking, but from what, she couldn't tell.

"Uraraka-san," his hands were on her shoulders now and his face was closer, "feeling the way you do doesn't make you any less worthy of being a Hero and it doesn't make anyone think any less of you either. You're the most incredible girl that I've ever met and there isn't a single thing you can say to change my mind."

Ochako needed to say something, but she couldn't find any words. Her chest felt tight and if she didn't say the right thing then her heart was going to burst.

It hurt.

It hurt but at the same time it didn't.

There were no words, so she did the only other thing she could do to tell him how she felt at that moment.

She kissed him.

It was surprisingly easy to do when one considered all the hype that was put behind someone's first kiss or even just kissing in general. He was already close, so she didn't have to move much. They were both sitting, so there wasn't much of a height issue.

And she was so sure of her actions in that moment that she didn't need to hesitate.

Predictably, Deku was surprised. Predictably, his whole body tensed up and his eyes went wide. Less predictably, this only lasted for a brief instant before he was kissing her _back_.

She ran her fingers through his poofy hair as his arms enveloped her and pulled her closer to him. Their mouths stayed connected, as though they were scared of what might happen if they were separated. Eventually, they had to breathe. Upon taking stock of the situation, Ochako realized that she had somehow ended up in his lap.

"W-well…" she felt that, as the initiator, it was her duty to break the incredibly awkward silence, "that was…intense."

"Yeah…" he nodded dumbly, seemingly unable to believe what had just happened.

"I just…I couldn't think what to say and…"

"Yeah…"

"You're not mad right? You're okay with this?"

"Yeah…"

"What's two plus All Might?"

"Yeah…"

 _Crap…I think I broke him._

"Deku-kun? Earth to Deku-kun?" she waved a hand in front of his face to no avail.

She turned herself on his lap so she was facing him properly, feeling no inclination to get off. It wasn't like there was anyone else around or anything.

"You're really out of it, aren't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Good to know."

The seconds ticked by while she did her best to figure out how to snap him out of it.

"Deku-kun, I'm going to kiss you again."

"What?" he came back to reality, arms still around her as they had been the entire time.

"Welcome back from…wherever you were for the past minute."

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"What?"

"I was planning on waiting to ask this and it does seem kinda redundant after…that…b-but, well…will you?"

Well, if he wanted to be coy about this then she could play that game.

"I'll have to think about it."

"Maybe over that second kiss you promised me a moment ago?"

That earned him a shove that sent him to the ground. Due to his arms being where they were, however, she went down with him.

"Meanie." she kissed him again anyway, this time more able to appreciate the sensation of his lips against hers and the hard contours of his chest beneath her hands.

Well, that went a long way towards explaining his incredible strength. Full of surprises indeed.

She rolled over so that she could see the sky again, and immediately let out a huge yawn.

"Tired?" he asked.

"I think all that excitement took up the rest of my energy."

"Yeah, me too. Time to get in the tent before we fall asleep in the open air."

"That'd be bad."

"Yeah."

"I don't wanna move."

His solution to that was to gather her up in his arms as if she had already used Zero Gravity on herself and walk towards the tent, kicking his shoes off at the entrance. She did the same, dropping them relatively close to his as he knelt down and entered the tent.

What she saw was not what she was expecting to see. Instead of two sleeping bags side-by-side, there was what she recognized as hers completely open and draped over the top of the other one, which was also open.

"Well," he said by way of explanation, "I was forced to admit defeat. I just could not get the zipper on yours to work, so I figured I would just make a bigger sleeping bag. I was a bit nervous about how you'd take it but…"

"Less nervous now?"

"Somehow, yes."

He set her down and was about to join her when he grimaced and held up a finger.

"Lantern." he explained and vanished from the tent for a few moments longer than she had expected.

"Get lost?" she asked when he returned.

"Almost." he joked, "I was putting the blanket away. I thought about bringing it in here but it's supposed to be a warm night, so…" he trailed off and got in the double bag.

Ochako wasted no time in snuggling in close to him and resting an arm on his chest, finding that he was actually surprisingly warm. It probably had something to do with his Quirk. Maybe that was why she had been so comfortable during her naps?

Another yawn interrupted her train of thought. She could think about stuff later. For now, she would just bask in the moment and snuggle.

…With her new boyfriend.

 _Well, decision made I guess._

* * *

 **IT. IS. OFFICIAL! You guys have no idea how hard it was for me to wait this long to do something like this. I was originally going to have the "I don't deserve to be a Hero" discussion on top of the parking structure during their first date, but the timing didn't feel right.  
**

 **Also, since you are all so observant, many of you will likely notice that Izuku is acting slightly different throughout a large portion of the chapter. I would like to assure you that this is not me suddenly losing touch with his character. There is a big reason for this which I have, true to form, been dropping the occasional subtle hint about. I won't say anything else. I'm interested to see if anyone can figure out what's really going on. Make sure to show your work, no credit for partial answers, etc etc.**

 **Next time will be the moment that many of you have been waiting for: THE SPORTS FESTIVAL! I've been putting a lot of research and planning into this and I've got the first two events pretty much figured out. The tournament will be similar to the Battle Trials in that I will be randomizing the matchups via dice rolls, though certain matches are destined to happen one way or another. Or rather, one very specific match that I'm sure comes as a surprise to absolutely nobody.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	29. Chapter 29: Sports Festival: Round One

**We've finally made it, my loyal readers: Sports Festival time! I know that many of you have been looking forward to it and so have I! In other news, we have exceeded 600 reviews since last chapter and we are getting very close to breaking 1,000 favorites! Torchbearer is only growing more and more powerful! Soon ffnet will belong to us! Muahahaha!**

 **Review time:**

 **Renlu, MyPillow, C_J_Robbins, The 0bservanc3 : We had a few responses to the most recent prompt and if you put them all together then you are correct. There's a bit more to it, but this chapter will serve to confirm and perhaps expand on your theories.  
**

 **Captain SteeleStag, XiaoTehAsian : YOUR WISH IS GRANTED.**

 **Renlu : I had remembered your reaction to chapter 20, so I hoped that you would review this one. Your reactions are great. I hope that I am able to do the relationship justice and that the Sports Festival lives up to everyone's expectations.**

 **Jack Inqu : We will certainly learn more about Izuku's Quirk as he does. I think that Ochako understands that's just how Mina is and that she doesn't mean anything by it. They're good friends after all.**

 **yousifkadri12 : Katsuki might not be with Ochako, but I do still have shipping plans for him. Do not despair.**

 **kieran aitken : I'm glad you enjoyed it! I am working on some plans for Omakes, but I'm not sure if shut-down Deku will be one of them.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Since it takes until chapter 28 for them to get together and since this is not first and foremost a romance story, I will refrain from making the pairing part of the description. That would be a super-cute story. Yeah, I knew that the extended flashback could be a bit jarring, but, as I had hoped, my convention of using italics for such sections came through! Good thing too, since we get a bit more of that this chapter.**

 **Basically, this goes with your statement about how he overthinks things. If he just ACTS and doesn't give himself time to overthink it, then he can fight at a respectable level though, of course, his primary strength is and will always be his tactical nature so just running off of instinct will limit him. He's not Katsuki after all. I had never even considered the idea that Takeyama was related to the Bakugos, though I can certainly see it. I also had to look up Nishiya to realize who you were talking about. I hadn't considered that ship. Hmm...  
**

 **They did bring extra water. Izuku was carrying a 24 pack of water bottles in his bag. I think I mentioned it offhandedly as they were setting up camp. I agree that canon could have done more with Ochako's problem and that it was sold short there. Ochako would DEFINITELY be too shy to do something like that in public. Even if she wasn't, it might kill Izuku once he realized what had happened.**

 **Random : They didn't forget, it was just that, having already addressed this point, I didn't feel the need to bring it back up again since the point of the scene was more to introduce the idea of Vigilantes and provide some history (important history too, so make sure to remember it).**

 **bhennen : There will indeed be more of them abusing the hell out of Ochako's Quirk to do crazy stuff. In this very chapter, even!**

 **Cieszesi Niezmiernie, TheOneYouDontSee1, uchihaNaruto247, Rusty Thebanite, Mrguy22594, DarkxKitsune15, hrisi292, lorenzde, Mess It Up, LucklessBlock86, Sentinel07, jaciro500, tanithlipsky, Eramis8, D3lph0xL0v3r, PhysicsRules, InventoryOfFun and everyone else: Thank you for your support and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, before we get into the meat of things, how about a quick stop inside the mind of a certain Vigilante-turned-Villain?**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sports Festival: Round One

The man formerly known as Chizome Akaguro was taking a moment to observe the city of Hosu from the top of the building where he was currently perched. He had arrived in Hosu only recently after having hit his quota in yet another city. So far he had managed to purge seventeen of the unworthy and had maimed another twenty-two badly enough that they would never again stain the title of Hero.

This was his usual approach when entering a new area: Observe. Identify. Eliminate.

He had…deviated…from this formula somewhat upon his initial entry into Hosu. In his defense, it was a situation that had never occurred before. He had disguised himself and stowed away on a train, skipping over a few stops on the way in order to throw off those who were doubtlessly tracking him. If he was being honest, there had been more than one close call.

This time had been different, however. This time a Hero had coincidentally been patrolling the station at the exact moment that he had disembarked. The Hero had not recognized him for who he was, else he would never have decided to amateurishly trail him all the way into the alley where he promptly met his demise.

The mistake that had been made lay in the fact that this alley was actually a popular shortcut to get from one main road to another. This fact had aligned with plain-old bad luck to form the situation in which a civilian had witnessed the slaying. Civilians were not targets, so he had been forced to flee. This had led to the local authorities knowing of his presence far, far sooner than he had intended.

So here he was: attempting to cobble together a mental map of the city which included kill points, hiding spots, emergency exits and observation points, a process which he usually spent at least two or three days on, in slightly less than one.

It occurred to him, as it sometimes did during his musings, that few men bore as many names as he had in the comparatively short time that he had been active. Chizome Akaguro. Vigilante. Stendhal. Stain. Villain. Hero-Killer.

He had thought that he was doing some real good during his time as Stendhal. That was what he had always wanted: to do good. He truly admired Heroes and believed with all his heart that they were exactly what society needed. Unfortunately, due to the nature of his Quirk and the manner of combat that it necessitated, the man called Chizome was never able to become a Hero.

Still, the desire to do good had never left him, so he honed his skills and took to the streets as the Vigilante, Stendhal. It was a known fact that Pro Heroes could not be in all places at all times, so low-profile and/or spontaneous acts of Villainy often went unpunished simply because the Heroes and police didn't know about them. Worse still, some Villains had wised up and used status or money to render themselves nigh-untouchable by the traditional authorities.

The solution, then, was simple: Stendhal took it upon himself to patrol the out-of-the-way places frequented by low-profile Villains and he dealt with them swiftly and decisively. After all, those who simply wielded their power without conviction and sought only to benefit themselves at the expense of others were automatically sinners deserving of whatever judgement the righteous saw fit to bestow upon them.

Some of the Villains had lived, but most had not. After all, he was not the sort of exceptional man who could afford to hold back when his life was on the line. There was no concern in regards to breaking the law, since he was already doing that anyway by operating without a Hero License. Similarly, there was no fear of dragging the title of Hero through the mud, as he was not one. It had been difficult to accept, at first, since his life's ambition up until that point had still been to become a Hero. However, Stendhal had understood that there were certain advantages to not being subjected to the rules, regulations and red tape that Pro Heroes had to deal with.

In spite of operating outside of the law, Stendhal had been quite pleasantly surprised to find that he still had allies. One in particular, The Crawler, was a young man who, in spite of being a Vigilante like himself, still held that spark of selflessness, bravery and desire to do good that was present in all true Heroes. He had gained a local reputation for being a kind, helpful, humble soul who considered no task to be below him whether said task was picking up litter, giving directions, calling a cab or helping an old lady cross the street.

So, when Stendhal had come across The Crawler while he was in the midst of combat with a powerful, drug-enhanced Villain, he had immediately come to his aid. The Villain, like most of his ilk, had lacked conviction and fled as soon as he realized that Stendhal was more than a match for him. In spite of his prodigious size and durability, he had been naught but a coward. Before Stendhal had left, the young man had stopped him.

" _I just wanted to say 'thanks.' You really saved me back there. Who are you?"_

" _I'm Stendhal. Just a guy who likes to stick his nose where it doesn't belong, same as you."_

Before Stendhal had fled the scene to avoid the police, he had glimpsed a look of wonder and admiration on The Crawler's face. It was the sort of look that people gave to Heroes. The sort of look that Stendhal had accepted that he would likely never receive.

It had warmed his heart and strengthened his resolve. The Villain had died the next day.

Still, in retrospect, he had erred. The reason he was after said Villain in the first place was because he had been tipped off by another Villain. The girl had hidden nothing about the nature of her intentions, but had earned herself a stay of execution by giving him information on various criminals in the area. She had even provided him with blood samples for a particularly entrenched group of yakuza in order to facilitate the use of his Quirk.

He had allowed his creed to become diverted based on merit. Greed, to put it in simple terms. He had rationalized it by saying that the girl would get her comeuppance at some point when she stopped being useful, but at that point his convictions had already become weakened.

This came to a head when he was about to land the killing blow on yet another target, but was interrupted by The Crawler.

" _Stendhal-san and…Souga?!"_

 _Well, that was interesting. Apparently, The Crawler and this Villain were acquainted. Most likely he was yet another foe that had given his fellow Vigilante trouble in the past. Good. He could help him again. Maybe he would get to see that expression of gratitude one more time?_

" _Step aside, Crawler. I will lay this Villain low."_

" _Well, I admit he's a punk…and I guess that in actuality he's pretty much a Villain…but before we resort to violence, let's try talking things out, alright?"_

Stendhal had not waited. There was no point in giving the Villain a chance that he did not deserve. The Crawler was a gentle soul, but in this he was mistaken.

 _His legs suddenly came out from under him as The Crawler shot across the ground and intercepted his charge with unexpected speed. As he recovered, the young man took the Villain onto his shoulders and began retreating._

 _Stendhal could not allow this. He threw one of his small knives and it embedded itself in one of The Crawler's calves, effectively reducing his mobility._

" _Don't get in my way, Crawler. There is no value in saving that man. He deserves naught but to die a dog's death alone and in darkness."_

 _The Crawler looked at him, an apologetic smile on his face._

" _Yeah…you may be right…in fact, you're most likely right…even so-!"_

The Crawler had bought enough time to position himself to effectively use his Quirk to begin retreating in earnest. Stendhal had no choice but to use Bloodcurdle to stop his movements.

It was a tragedy, truly, but even if it was by a simple act of innate goodness, those who sided with evil must be considered evil themselves. He had moved to strike down both the Villain and The Crawler.

" _It is unfortunate, but you are now sinners. There is no longer anyone to save you, worry about you, care for you, or even take notice of you."_

" _That's where you're wrong," a quick side-step was all that prevented a flying, booted kick from taking Stendhal's head off. His assailant quickly landed and did an about-face, revealing himself to be Knuckleduster, a rather infamous Vigilante in his own right, "'Cus I'm here!"_

" _The Vigilante of Naruhata, Knuckleduster. I have neither reason nor intention to fight you. Forging the path of righteousness in this crooked society…we both share the same ambition."_

" _Me? The same as you? Don't make me laugh. I'm a badass champion of justice and you're nothin' but an insane street murderer!"_

Knuckleduster had given Stendhal a chance to leave. He had even drawn a line on the ground, stating that the moment Stendhal crossed it, he would drive his fist into his face. Stendhal had charged, counting on his overwhelming speed to take Knuckleduster by surprise.

His actions had led to him having a fist driven so powerfully into his face that his mask was shattered along with his nose. It was then that Knuckleduster had uttered the words that had changed his outlook on life.

" _Hmm…a mask-wearing megalomaniac, huh? You come across guys like that from time to time. They put on a mask or some sort of disguise and become convinced that they're a completely different person from their normal self. They especially tend to believe that they're invincible superhumans. They can be a real pain to deal with, because they'll come at you with a complete disregard for common sense and their own safety. Conversely, if you step into their territory, they become quite fragile. 'I'm just flesh and blood. I'm Human.' At the end of the day, people who have forgotten that fact…well, they simply lack resolve."_

Then it had all clicked. There were indeed those whose sins were even greater than those of Villains: the pretentious False Heroes who lacked even a shred of true resolve!

Stendhal had escaped using his inhuman speed and agility and returned to the run-down house that he had been using as his base of operations.

Power. Speed. Arms. Tactics. There were many things that he had lacked. There was one thing that outweighed all of those, however:

Resolve.

So he had removed that which allowed him to pass as a normal person under the light of day and left the chunk of cartilage red and bloody in the sink.

He no longer had a mask. There could be no deception, no straying from his path.

He had become a faceless ideology: one with no existence who would take appropriate action.

He was the color that would dye the world. He would prove his significance by means of the blood that he drew.

" _Wherever I travel, tracks are left behind…Guiding bloodstains…that cannot be wiped away…"_

On that day, he had become Stain.

On that day, he had become the Hero-Killer.

On that day, he had embraced the darkness and become a Villain that would purge those who were unworthy of calling themselves Heroes one at a time.

When he was finished and only the worthy remained, then his work would be finished.

…And there was so very much to do.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was kind of a mess. Oh, there was nothing _wrong_ with him, at least, he didn't _think_ so. It was just that the things that were occupying his mind varied so wildly that it gave him some form of mental and emotional whiplash.

It was for this reason that he had decided to sit cross-legged on his bed after he had gotten home on Monday, the day before the Sports Festival, in order to perform a bit of internal compartmentalization. He would then deal with each thing individually in its own time.

The most immediate and pressing subject was the Sports Festival. Homeroom had been spent going over the basic procedure that they were to follow for the day including where and when they would meet, what they were and were not allowed to bring, what they were expected to do when the starting signal was given and, accompanied by Aizawa's trademark glare, a re-iteration of the importance of this event along with the fact that it would be broadcasted across the entire country so they had all better give it their all and be on their best behavior.

Izuku was, naturally, nervous about this. He may have gotten used to performing for his teachers and classmates, but the idea of being in front of not only the massive number of spectators, a large portion of which would be _PRO HEROES_ , but also a large chunk of the country up to and including his mom (Izuku wasn't quite sure which of these prospects unnerved him more and decided to go with a 60-40 split, since his mom would be proud of him no matter what he did) made him really feel the pressure.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, there was his previous talk with All Might to consider. This was his chance to leave a real impression on the public for the day when he started working for real. He could build a foundation of support and send the message that he was _there_ and that, along with the rest of the next generation of Heroes, he would uphold the pillars of justice that were currently supported by All Might and the current generation.

Some prominent members of the next generation had already made names for themselves. Kamui Woods and Mount Lady were two shining examples of powerful, capable Heroes who had made their debut in the past few years. Ingenium was on the older end of the spectrum, having turned thirty the previous year, though he was still doubtlessly in his prime.

Izuku and his classmates were by no means leading the charge. In some ways, this was good, but in other ways, it meant that they had a lot to live up to.

Izuku, being the type to overthink things well past the recommended stopping point for his mental health, was freaking out about this. He knew he was overreacting. He knew that students did this every year and that he would have two more chances if this one didn't work out.

But he didn't want to wait. He didn't want to coast along. He knew that All Might's time was limited and so it was absolutely critical that he made a strong showing _this_ time, not next time or the time after that, _this_ time.

Then there was the fact that Kacchan would never let him hear the end of it if he didn't even make it to the final round. Plus, in typical male fashion, he wanted to look cool for his new girlfriend.

Speaking of mental and emotional whiplash, it was now Day Two of Ochako Uraraka officially being his girlfriend and Izuku _still_ couldn't believe that it was true. He suspected that a small part of him would always wonder how he had worked whatever sorcery had been required to accomplish this feat.

In all honesty, when he had opened his eyes the previous morning and realized that, no, everything had _not_ been a dream, he had been absolutely terrified that she would feel that she had made some sort of mistake. Saturday night they had both been tired from a long day of travelling, emotions were high from their argument and the atmosphere had seemingly been tailor-made for such a situation.

What made it worse was that Izuku had _meant_ every single thing that he had said and done. He stood by the fact that Ochako deserved to be a Hero and she was, without a doubt, the most incredible girl that he had ever met. He would say it until he was blue in the face if that was what it took for her to get the message and stop doubting herself so much.

 _Pot, kettle._

Then she had woken up and, after taking a moment to reboot her brain, snuggled closer into his side and given him a peck on the cheek, instantly dispelling his previously earth-shattering worries.

She was a little bit _too_ good at that, he decided, though maybe it stemmed from the fact that she had practice? It had been how they had first met, after all, with her smoothing out his anxiety and re-directing his attention to something more productive. That first time, this had entailed finding the examination room in order to meet up with Kacchan. More recently, it had involved just enjoying a few moments of bliss and comfort before he had to force himself to drag his carcass out of the super-bag and start breaking camp.

On the way back, during their conversations, she had thrown him a bit of a curveball.

" _Deku-kun, you don't have to keep calling me 'Uraraka' you know? It seems kinda formal now that we're…closer." that had caused the pair of them to blush and go silent for a few moments, "A-anyway, you can call me by my first name, you know?"_

" _O-Ochako-san." that had earned him a strange look._

" _That just sounds weird. Either use -chan or drop the honorific altogether."_

" _I…that might take a bit of practice, but I'll try."_

" _Oh! If…if it's too hard, then you don't have to!" she backed off immediately, "I'm sorry, I just kind of spoke without thinking!"_

 _Now_ he _felt bad._

" _No! That's not…" he took a steadying breath and restarted, "If we're going to do…this," he indicated the pair of them, "then we need to be able to talk openly and honestly to each other. Don't get me wrong, we kind of already do that, but I think it should be more of a rule now, you know?"_

" _That makes sense." she agreed, "I still don't want to make you do something if it's inconvenient for you, though. It's honestly not that big of a deal. You can call me whatever you want."_

" _Ochako," he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, "I might not have any idea what I'm doing, but I do at least know that relationships of any kind can't be one-sided. It's give-and-take, whether you're family, friends or…more than that, so if there's something that you'd like me to do, don't be afraid to ask. If I have a problem with it, I promise I'll tell you, just like you should do the same with me, okay?"_

 _She had simply nodded and remained silent for a few moments after that, apparently deep in thought._

" _Did you come up with that or did you get it from somewhere?"_

" _Oh, well, I actually got it from my mom. Kacchan's always been really strong-willed and sometimes he would want to do something that I wasn't comfortable with when we were kids, so…my mom sat the two of us down and basically said the same thing that I just said to you. As we've gotten to know each other better and gotten used to it, we don't really overstep with each other anymore, but early on we were able to solve a lot of problems just by talking them out."_

" _Bakugo-kun to the rescue yet again, huh?" she laughed and he joined in._

" _Yeah, it sure seems like I have a lot to thank him for, huh?"_

" _I'd say that we both do."_

" _You can call me by my first name too, if you want."_

" _Hmm…Izuku. I-zu-ku. Izuku-kun? Izu-kun? No, that sounds more like something Mina-chan would do…" she experimented with different ways of saying his name before shrugging, "I guess 'Izuku' is just the best way to go. I still like 'Deku-kun' though."_

 _That provided him with a nice segue into something else he had been meaning to talk about._

" _Well, I was actually hoping that you'd be okay with…kind of…keeping our relationship private…for a little bit…" she did not immediately respond, so he continued, "It's just that this is all so_ new _and I'm probably going to need a bit of time to…adjust. Plus, there's the Sports Festival to worry about and I think we need to be able to focus on that which would probably be easier if we kept this to ourselves for now."_

" _Yeah, I can understand that." she nodded, "I'd be lying if I said this wasn't all new to me too, so this is probably the smart way of doing things, even if there are a couple people I'd like to tell right away. Tsuyu-chan would keep it a secret if I asked her to, but Mina-chan…well, she'd_ try _but…"_

" _She's a naturally open person and it's not in her nature to keep non-vital secrets?"_

" _Yeah. Isn't it going to be hard for you not to tell Bakugo-kun?"_

 _Izuku wished that he could say "yes" to that question, but the fact of the matter was that he had been keeping a couple of much,_ much _bigger secrets from not just Kacchan, but everyone for quite some time now. He had, much to his repeated chagrin, gotten rather good at it._

" _As long as we don't give him any reason to suspect anything, I think we should be able to keep it a secret for a little while…probably. He's got really good instincts though, so there might be no helping it."_

" _For how long?"_

" _I can't honestly answer that right now. At least until after the Sports Festival is over. Then we can talk about it and figure out who would be safe to tell."_

" _Okay. I can accept that. I guess that means we'll only be using first names while we're alone?"_

" _Just for now."_

" _Can I at least tell my parents?"_

" _I'm pretty sure my mom is going to figure out that something is up and wring the info out of me one way or another so yeah, sure."_

Suffice it to say that Inko had indeed detected that something was going on. She had, however, backed off when he cited the need to focus on the upcoming Sports Festival, with the promise that he would tell her everything afterwards.

Then, finally, there was the third major topic that was taking up Izuku's mental space, which was also the one that he was the most uncertain about.

Namely, the little voice in his head that he had taken to calling "Other Izuku."

 _You called?_

At first, Izuku had been under the assumption that he had developed Other Izuku as a sort of mental sounding board to help him think through things or at the very least a mental construct developed from his decision to be unfailingly honest about everything. If he was to liken him to an image, it would be that of the little angel on one's shoulder.

 _Aw, that's nice._

The thing was, he had become rather…outspoken…lately. He had even occasionally pointed out things that would never normally occur to Izuku, which implied that he had his own independent thought processes, which implied that he was his own person, which implied that Izuku was steadily going insane.

 _That's a lot of implications._

As if that wasn't enough, there were even times when Izuku _acted_ in a manner contrary to his usual self. One instance had been towards the end of his fight with Kacchan during the Battle Trials and another, much more recent one had been his sudden nerves of steel on Saturday with Ochako. Sure, it _could_ have just been testosterone, but if that was the case then shouldn't he be noticing changes in his _overall_ behavior, not just isolated incidents?

 _Did you ever do anything during these so-called "incidents" that you didn't_ want _to do?_

The voice in his head had a point and wasn't that exactly how these sorts of things always started?

 _Look, if you start acting crazy, I'll let you know. Besides, don't all great Heroes have a few screws loose anyway? The way I see it, you're just ahead of the curve._

…And unless Izuku was very much mistaken, the voice in his head had just called him crazy.

Fan-fucking-tastic. He would have to give this situation some more thought. Not now, though. Later. He could focus on his supposed mental state after he dealt with his most pressing concern.

Namely, the Sports Festival. Which was tomorrow. And it was already eleven o'clock.

 _You should probably get some sleep._

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

It was the big day. Namely, Tuesday. Namely the day of the Sports Festival.

Denki Kaminari, like the rest of Class 1-A, was in their designated waiting room. Some of them were huddled at tables talking strategy, some were making small-talk in an effort to calm their nerves, some were standing quietly off to the side and mentally preparing in their own way.

As for Denki, he was doing his presidential duty and making the rounds in order to make sure that everyone was ready to go. They were all dressed in their sports uniforms, Hero Costumes having been outlawed in the interest of fairness.

This also gave him something to do in order to suppress his nerves. Hey, he was in the same boat as everyone else, after all.

"Alright, alright, alRIGHT!" he clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention, "It's almost showtime, people! Everyone ready? Got your uniforms? Hair looking good? Undies on straight? Todoroki's looking a bit uncomfortable over there, that's why I ask."

As he had intended, this got a few laughs from his classmates and lightened the mood of the room a little bit. To be fair, Todoroki _was_ looking a bit more sour-faced than usual right up until he abruptly got off the wall he had been leaning against and made a beeline straight for an unsuspecting Midoriya, who was in the middle of a conversation with the group that Denki had mentally dubbed "the Bakusquad" given that Bakugo was more or less the leader.

Oh, boy. He looked like he meant business.

"Midoriya." it really said something about Todoroki that he could shut the entire room up just by saying someone's name. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was Midoriya in particular?

"Ah, Todoroki-san. What is it?" Midoriya was clearly surprised and with good reason: Todoroki rarely initiated a conversation with anybody.

"Objectively speaking, between you and me, who would you say is stronger?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Bakugo responded for his friend.

"The kind with two possible answers." Denki had to give props to Todoroki for having nerves as cold as the ice he produced. He wasn't even looking at Bakugo.

"Oi, listen here, Half-and-Half-"

"Kacchan, it's fine." Midoriya cut in with a glance towards Bakugo before he returned his attention to Todoroki, "If we're talking combat effectiveness, I'd have to say that you're stronger than me, Todoroki-san. Heck, you're probably stronger than most people in that regard. I don't think this is news to anybody." he looked around at the class to see more than a few heads nodding in agreement, some more enthusiastically than others.

"What about as a Hero?" that caused Midoriya to hesitate for a moment and Todoroki continued, "I'm asking for two main reasons. The first is that you've managed to get All Might's attention for some reason. I'm not here to pry into that or anything, but don't think that I haven't noticed. The second…" here, Todoroki gave an uncharacteristic pause, a look of conflict passing over his normally stoic face.

"The second reason is because of what happened at USJ. I could have done more, but I hesitated while _you_ didn't. That has to mean something. It showed me that I still have a ways to go, so I'm going to come after you with everything I've got. I _will_ beat you."

"Whoa, time out!" Kirishima stood up from the table, arranging his hands into a "T" shape, "I get that you're tense, but there's no reason to be so aggressive about this right before the first event!"

"Todo, this isn't like you." Hagakure added, having broken away from where she had been speaking with Ashido, "Why are you doing this?"

"Let's get one thing straight." Todoroki responded, looking from Kirishima to Hagakure, "I'm not here to play nice and make friends and I'm not doing this for some petty reason like wanting to prove that I'm better than everyone else either." he directed his attention to Midoriya, "I'm doing this because I _have_ to; both to prove something to myself and to apologize to you for hesitating back then."

Okay. This was officially weird.

"If you're going to say all that, then I guess I don't really have much of a choice but to accept your challenge, huh?" Midoriya stood up and gave Todoroki a small smile, "For what it's worth, I've never blamed you or anyone else for what happened back at USJ. Heck, if it hadn't been for you then we wouldn't have made it in time to rescue Aizawa-sensei and I heard about what you did for me after I got hurt too. If anything, I should be thanking you."

Then Midoriya got serious.

"However, me being grateful to you and me allowing you to beat me are two entirely separate matters. We're all here because we have hopes and dreams and the Sports Festival is a really great way to help make those dreams a reality not just for us, but for all of the other U.A. students who are participating as well, Hero Department or otherwise. I'm afraid that I can't just allow myself to be beaten; you'll have to earn it just like the rest of us: by going for it with all of your might!"

"Damn right!" Denki loudly concurred, "Let's all take a leaf out of the Vice-Prez's book and go for it like we mean it! Plus Ultra!"

" **PLUS ULTRA**!" the class responded to his rallying cry with great enthusiasm.

They almost didn't hear the announcement calling them out to the field.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

" _That's right, all you Listeners both here and at home: it's the Freshman Stage! The students are making their entrance now! Let's hear it for each and every one of them!"_

The sound of Present Mic's announcements combined with the roar of the crowd echoed through the entrance tunnel as Class 1-A made it's way through, making the air itself vibrate as they passed underneath the stands.

" _The U.A. Sports Festival! Where the young eggs of the Hero world aim for each other's throats in order to claw their way to the top! It's our grand yearly melee and unless I'm much mistaken, more than a few of you are here specifically to see the freshly-formed miracle stars that shrugged off a mass Villain assault with wills of steel! Heroics Department, Freshman Class: Class 1-A!"_

Izuku had thought that he was prepared for the audience. Maybe he had been. Once Present Mic was finished hyping them up though, he felt like it was last night all over again.

"Ah, I see." Iida said from close by as they entered the massive sports arena, "The ability to perform with all eyes upon you is also crucial for a Hero. This is yet another facet of U.A.'s Hero Training."

"Geez, they're really singing our praises up there!" Kirishima sweated, "I'm getting a bit nervous now, I've gotta admit. What about you, Bakubro?"

"Heh. No way. All this is doing is adding more fuel to the fire; you'll see."

Once all the classes had been announced and gathered in front of the small raised platform at one end of the field, yet another announcement was made in a very different, female voice.

"Now everyone welcome the Chief Referee for the Freshman stage this year! It's U.A.'s very own super-sexy Modern Hero Art History teacher, the R-rated Hero: Midnight!" the woman in question hopped up onto the stage and struck a provocative pose in all of her BDSM-themed glory, "Everyone play fair, or I'll have to punish you~"

"If she's R-rated, then is it really okay for her to be at a high school?" one of the students wondered.

"Hey!" Midnight snapped the flogger-style whip that she carried, "I'll have you know that my teaching position here is completely on the level! Now, Freshman Representative Katsuki Bakugo, get up here!"

That was right; Kacchan was the Freshman Representative because he had placed first in the entrance exam. He was also expected to make a short speech. He had mentioned it off-handedly to Izuku the previous day. Izuku watched as he took the stage, unsure of what he was going to say.

"Right." Kacchan began, "None of us are here to listen to me talk, so I'll make this quick. I'm standing up here because I'm Number One. As a friend of mine pointed out, we're all here because we have goals that we want to achieve, but at the end of the day, I'm up here and you're not. If anyone has any issues with that, then today's the day to prove me wrong. Come at me with everything you have and I'll return the favor by crushing you with everything that _I_ have. Now let's get to the good part. Plus Ultra."

Well, if Kacchan had been trying to get everyone fired up, Izuku mused, he had certainly succeeded. He appreciated the shout-out too, no matter how backhanded it might have been.

"Alright, with that let's get straight into the first event!" Midnight enthusiastically announced as she indicated the large screen that overlooked the arena, "What could it be? Who knows?! Well, _I_ do, but still WHO KNOWS?!"

* **DING** *

"That's right, everyone! The preliminary round, which is designed to eliminate the vast majority of the competition, is this: OBSTACLE RACE!"

One section of wall opened to reveal a long passageway that led outside of the arena.

"You always hear U.A. talking about our free-form methods, right? Well this right here is where they're on full display! You can do anything you want as long as you remain within the confines of the obstacle course!"

As soon as he heard the words "obstacle race," Izuku's mind went into overdrive. This was exactly the sort of thing that he had predicted might happen, since the preliminaries were generally free-for-alls designed to wipe students off the proverbial map. He had been in the midst of discussing how to take advantage of this fact with his group when Todoroki had spoken to him earlier.

"Let's get started! On your marks…"

Izuku had no time. He forced his way over to where Kacchan was.

"Kacchan, I have a plan."

"…get set…"

"Gotcha. I'll get half, you get half."

"GO!"

The mass of bodies all made for the passageway, which they quickly discovered was far too narrow for them to all squeeze through at once. The race had only just begun and already they had reached the first filter.

Izuku used his enhanced jumps to clear the crowd and scanned frantically for the rest of his group members. He spotted Shoji at once, who was in the process of using his prodigious size to muscle his way through the crush of students. He kicked off a wall to maintain his momentum and shot towards his large friend, who saw him coming at once and caught him on his shoulders.

This was all part of the plan. Shoji would use his wide field of vision to monitor the situation and if there was a plan, it was priority number one to ensure that he knew.

"Midoriya-san."

"Shoji-san, we need to get everyone together once we get through this passage. Kacchan already knows."

"Understood. Uraraka-san should be easy enough to locate as long as she follows the pla-ah. Yes, there she is. On your five."

Izuku turned in the indicated direction and, sure enough, Ochako was floating in the air, searching the crowd. Izuku used Shoji's back as a springboard and shot towards her, arm outstretched.

"Uraraka-san!" she heard him and reacted immediately, turning him weightless and hanging on for dear life as he ricocheted off the wall with another jump, taking them backwards into the main arena.

" _Oh, what's this? Midoriya and Uraraka of Class 1-A have exited the passage and are back at the starting point! Did they get turned around? What do you think, my loyal co-host?"_

" _I think I wouldn't be here if you hadn't forced me to be here."_ Aizawa's tired and irritated voice responded, _"Having said that, it's nearly impossible to lose track of a straight line, so my guess would be they have a- yep. There they go."_

After a hasty explanation of the situation, Izuku had Ochako re-apply her Quirk to both of them and he had leapt straight back into the passage, easily sailing over the heads of the other participants and ending up ahead of the lion's share of the pack. As they flew, he noticed that a large portion of the ground had been iced over along with a significant number of students' feet.

"Must be Todoroki-san's handiwork. He's really not holding anything back. Ah, Uraraka-san, land please."

"Release!"

They landed within a few feet of a very surprised Kirishima.

"Hey! Nice of you two to drop in. Bakubro found me already. What's the plan?"

"We still need to find Iida-san. Shoji-san has been updated and should be meeting us when he gets the chance."

" _OH! Watch out, Listeners, it's already time for the first obstacle! ROBO INFERNO!"_

" _I still think that's a really bad name."_

There was no need to wonder what that name was meant to imply, because the students in the lead were suddenly assailed by a large number of robots identical to those from the entrance exam, including several Zeros looming over all of them, forming a very intimidating blockade.

…Then they were frozen.

"Sweet! Looks like Todoroki's plan backfired! He just made it easier for all of us!" Kirishima enthusiastically ran forward, "Hey, there's Iida! YO, IIDA!"

"Kirishima-san, no!" Izuku frantically shouted, but it was too late.

* **KROOOM** *

The Zeros had apparently been frozen in precarious positions, which had caused them to fall over. Iida, who had been near the head of the pack courtesy of his speed, had been able to avoid getting squashed along with the majority of the other leaders, but Kirishima, who had been distracted, had not.

"Holy shit I think someone's under there!"

"What?! No way!"

"Is he…dead? Can you die in this thing?"

The frozen surface of the Zero exploded outwards as a fully-hardened Kirishima exploded outwards like some sort of spiky-headed chestburster.

"LIKE HELL I'D DIE!"

" _Oh my! It appears that 1-A's Kirishima was crushed underneath one of the robots! Thanks to his Quirk, Hardening, he's just fine! He's like the ultimate shield AND the ultimate spear!"_

"Jesus Christ, Todoroki! What would you have done if it had been someone other than me?! Someone could've died!"

"What the hell, Class 1-A?!" another section of the same robot exploded and another young man emerged from the wreckage, this one had sharp teeth and spiky hair of a slightly different style than Kirishima's, along with his body having a metallic sheen to it, "What would you have done if it had been someone other than me?! Someone could've died!"

" _Oh my! It appears that 1-B's Tetsutetsu was crushed underneath one of the robots! Thanks to his Quirk, Steel, he's just fine! He's like the ultimate shield AND the ultimate spear!"_

"Damnit! I'm having a hard enough time standing out as it is! GET BACK HERE, IIDA!" Kirishima charged off towards Iida, leaving the confused Tetsutetsu to haul himself out of the robot and continue the race.

With the majority of the Zeros taken care of, all that remained was the smaller robots. Izuku noticed an immediate difference as he charged through, dodging or disabling whatever was in his path.

 _Was it this easy the first time? No, it was different. Are these really the same robots?_

 _Of course they are, you've just gotten better at using your Quirk. In fact, you all have._

Sure enough, a quick scan of the area around him revealed that every member of Class 1-A was running through the obstacle like the robots weren't even there. Sero had used his tape to shoot up and over one of the Zeroes, accompanied by Tokoyami who had taken advantage of Dark Shadow. Kaminari was using calculated electrical discharges to disable the mechanical Villains while Jiro blasted them with sound waves and Yaoyorozu…produced a cannon and blew a hole through one of the Zeros.

Where was Kacchan?

" _Is it just me or are the 1-A students taking a nearly-unanimous lead here? What gives?"_

" _It's experience. They've seen and felt firsthand what real combat is like. Compared to those stakes and that fear…well, this is nothing at all. Just a bunch of scrap-metal pretending to be Villains."_

Oh. So that's what it was.

"Oi, Deku!" Kacchan fell into step beside Izuku, "I finally caught up with Iida. I swear that guy's way too earnest for his own good, even though he knew about the plan! You got Shoji and Uraraka?"

"Yeah, they know to group up after we get past the robots."

"Good thing too. You'll never believe what they did for the second obstacle."

" _If you think the first obstacle was too easy, then how about THIS?! You fall, you're out! If you don't like that idea, then maybe you can crawl instead! It's THE FALL!"_

Dozens of stone pillars of various sizes were connected by ropes that loomed over an incredibly deep pit. If the first obstacle was one of combat, then the second was one of mobility.

That suited Izuku's plan just fine.

He and Kacchan caught up with Iida, who apologized for getting too far ahead. As they waited for Kirishima, Uraraka and Shoji, they watched as Asui got on all fours and used her large hands and feet in conjunction with her frog-like ability to climb on nearly any surface to easily crawl her way across, losing hardly any speed. There was also a boisterous girl from the Support Department who, upon revealing that Support students were allowed to use any piece of equipment as long as they had created it themselves, used a combination of a pair of retractable, pointed grappling hooks and hover-boots to leap over the pit with complete abandon and shoot up the sides of the pillars.

" _What's this? It appears that just under a third of 1-A's students have stopped in their tracks! Bakugo, Iida, Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka and now Shoji as well! Have they given up? Do they have a plan? What could this all mean?! If they don't hurry up, then they'll get left in the dust!"_

" _They had a plan the first time. Probably a safe bet that they have one this time too."_

"… _You have absolutely no flair for the dramatic, do you, Shota?"_

" _If by 'dramatic' you mean 'screaming my head off like an idiot' then no, I can safely say that I do not."_

"Alright, everybody clear on the plan? This could go very badly if we screw it up, so we'll only have one shot."

Izuku had just finished explaining the details to the assembled group and they were reacting in various ways. Kacchan was grinning like a maniac, Shoji was nodding thoughtfully, Kirishima was looking sheepish, Ochako was giving him a knowing smile, having picked up on exactly where this plan came from and Iida was…having some misgivings about it.

"Midoriya-san, you are aware that this is incredibly dangerous, yes?"

"He just said as much, Iida." Kacchan barked, "Besides, we've spent long enough getting it all figured out that I'd say at this point it's our only chance if we want to come in first and I'm not accepting anything less!"

Iida was forced to concede the point and so they were ready to complete Phase One: Takeoff.

Shoji was positioned horizontally across the shoulders of Iida, Izuku and Kirishima, arms pinned together and spread to either side while also having been rendered weightless. Kacchan and Ochako were on his back, primed for action. They had also had the foresight to back several dozen feet away from the edge of the pit.

"Alright, let's do this!" Kacchan laughed.

At this command, Kirishima, Iida and Izuku all charged forwards. Ochako sprang into action, making Kacchan, Kirishima and Izuku weightless. The only things keeping them tethered to the ground were the weight coming from herself and Iida who, upon having built up some initial momentum with the aid of Izuku and Kirishima, poured on the gas and sent them hurtling towards the edge.

"One…" Izuku began to count down, building up strength in his legs, "Two…" the had nearly reached the edge when Iida suddenly decided to alter the plan.

"Three! Recipro Burst!"

Izuku reflexively slammed his feet into the ground as the output from Iida's engines increased dramatically as if he had given them a shot of nitro. They went screaming off the edge as Shoji spread his arms apart, stretching the webbing taut and providing them with lift and Ochako made Iida and herself weightless.

Then they were airborne. Shoji was streaking through the air like the worlds most bizarre paper airplane, with Kacchan using controlled explosions to steer and maintain their velocity. Izuku, Iida and Kirishima had tucked their legs to reduce air drag as much as possible, Izuku having learned a thing or two from trying this during his and Ochako's hike.

" _OH MY GOD! Listeners, are you seeing what I'm seeing?! Those six students from 1-A have taken flight and are rapidly gaining on the frontrunners! This could easily become the most bizarre upset that I have ever seen!"_

" _I admit, I didn't see this coming."_

"WOO-HOO! FUCK YEAH!" Kacchan was having the time of his life as they came around the final curve, revealing the final obstacle, which turned out to be a minefield that they were about to render completely irrelevant, "SUCK ON IT, HALF-AND-HALF!" he screamed at a thoroughly surprised Todoroki as they flew over his head, prompting him to freeze the latter half of the minefield solid as he generated even more ice to propel himself forward.

"There's the starting passage again! Deploy landing gear!" Bakugo ordered as they completed their circuit, "We're coming in hot!"

"I'm not getting any respect after this, am I?" Kirishima, aka the landing gear, griped as he extended his legs forward and hardened his body while Kacchan rapidly fired explosions at a downward angle to burn off their momentum, which proved surprisingly effective.

"Shoji! Brake!" Shoji flared his makeshift wings and grunted as he made full use of his powerful musculature. Moments later, Kirishima collided with the ground, rigid legs carving a trench several feet long before he couldn't remain in position anymore and let go, rolling across the dirt as Ochako released her Quirk.

"Alright, every man for himself!" Kacchan announced as he leapt clear of Shoji, followed close behind by Izuku who, a fraction of a second after he kicked off with all his strength, felt a hand on his back followed by a sensation of weightlessness.

"BLAST RUSH TURBO!"

"SMAAAAASH!"

" _ONE, TWO, THREEFOURFIVE, SIIIIX! Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first finishers! In first place, BY THE SKIN OF HIS TEETH, IZUKUUU MIDORIYAAA! Second place, Katsuki Bakugo! Following them, in what is at first glance a three-way tie for third place, we have Tenya Iida, Mezo Shoji and Ochako Uraraka! In Sixth place, we have Eijiro Kirishima! They'd better make some room though, because here comes the rest!"_

It had indeed been close. Izuku had ended up winning by the tips of his fingers as he dove through the opening to the arena and skidded to a stop once Ochako released her Quirk. He immediately sat her down and started rubbing her back when he saw that she had grown rather pale. In his opinion, it really should have been her in first place, since the whole plan effectively hinged on her Quirk, but there was nothing he could do about that now except try and help her feel better.

"You were incredible, Ochako." he whispered to her as Present Mic announced the rest of the semifinalists, "I'm sorry that my plan pushed you so hard. I'm sorry that I cut and ran when we landed. I should've realized…"

"Don't…don't worry about it." she responded through her long, slow breathing, clearly doing her best not to retch, "I just did what I could. There's no way I'd have done this well if it wasn't for your plan, Izuku."

"What good's a plan without people to carry it out?"

"What good are those people without a plan?"

"Pardon me," Shoji interjected via one of his extended tentamouths, "but I believe that, if Uraraka-san is feeling up to it, they are about to announce the second event."

As Izuku raised his head to respond, he noticed that Shoji's head was partially turned towards them with what Izuku could only describe as a mischievous glint in his regular eye that was visible from beneath his hair. As if to acknowledge Izuku's observation, he raised a tentaclear and wiggled it at him.

Izuku gave him a pleading look and Shoji held up a single finger to his concealed mouth, still looking incredibly amused by his standards.

"Would you like assistance, Uraraka-san?" he asked.

"Thank you, Shoji-kun. I should be better in a bit but…yes, please."

Izuku took one of her arms over his shoulders while Shoji, whose height made this impossible, simply held out a forearm for her to grasp. Together, they rejoined the throng of students, ready to hear what the second event would entail.

* * *

 **He knows too much. We have to kill him. Crap, he probably heard that too.**

 **Preliminaries: complete! I know that it was the same event as canon, but hopefully my spin on it was enough to keep you all entertained. Rest assured that the second event will be COMPLETELY different and much larger in scope. 1-B in particular will make more of a showing then they did in canon.  
**

 **If anyone is curious as to where Stain's backstory came from, it is from the spinoff manga My Hero Academia: Illegals/Vigilantes depending on which translation you look at. It's cool and gives us some interesting tidbits to sink our teeth into, so take a look at it if you want.**

 **Next time: event number two! I think I should be able to fit it all into a single chapter, but I said that about the Battle Trial and that ended up being three chapters so...we'll see. It'll be good though.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	30. Chapter 30: Strike Three

**I was correct in suspecting that the entirety of event two wouldn't be a single chapter XD. We have, however, hit two neat milestones this week. Firstly, it's chapter thirty. Secondly, it has been exactly six months since Torchbearer was first published. It's already been a hell of a ride and we've barely gotten started!**

 **Review time:**

 **Engineer of Epicness, Mrguy22594, CaedmonCousland : It's cool to see people hyped for the Cavalry Battle. However...it's not happening. We're doing something completely new and exciting instead! Something which, I might add, was suggested by a few of my wonderful reviewers way back when I asked about it! So thank you!  
**

 **Engineer of Epicness, Renlu, uchihaNaruto247, ILiekFishes, Jack Inqu, The 0bservanc3 : I'm very pleased with people's reaction to Stain's little spotlight. I certainly intend on doing a bit more with him than canon does, since I do think that his character is interesting and has a lot of potential. Part of this might stem from Illegals, since it came out after the original Stain arc and fleshes him out more. Definitely read it if you're interested in that. It takes place within the first ten chapters or so!  
**

 **Slayer76 : I totally see what you mean. My, admittedly flimsy, explanation for the sudden interest in fairness is because the other departments are involved and this is intended to serve as a chance for some of them to maybe advance to the Hero Course. It's possible that the whole "nothing is fair, deal with it" mentality only applies to the Hero Course students, or even Aizawa's class in particular.**

 **Mrguy22594 : Honestly, I didn't want to spend too much time rehashing canon with the first event, so I just focused on what was different. I wanted to get to events two and three, which are the really fun and different ones.**

 **Renlu : Don't worry, I won't take it quite that far, but you are on the right track in regards to what's going on with Other Izuku. Mostly. I do find Denki to be an enjoyable character to write. Expect to see more of him. Fairly soon in fact. Like this chapter for instance. Also, you are correct in your assumption about the whispering. As for the matchups...I'll talk a a bit about those after the chapter.**

 **ILiekFishes : Bakugo was there to maintain velocity and provide steering as well as help hit the brakes when the time came. Kirishima may have been the least necessary, but that landing would have hurt a hell of a lot more if not for him. Plus, he's a member of the group. They're not just gonna leave him behind.**

 **dragonightmare : Thanks! I wanted to take advantage of the extra time. As for my timeline, I'm not sure where you're getting months from. USJ happened on April 10th and the Sports Festival is taking place on May 7th. I actually printed out a calendar for the year 2222 and notated it so I wouldn't get the timeline mixed up.**

 **Death of Snipers : That's a sweet song and it does kinda fit the scene. If I was to make a suggestion for this chapter...maybe Courtesy Call by Thousand Foot Krutch when you hit the paragraph that starts with "Hear anything?" I tried to time it a few times and it's not perfect but I think some of the lyrics make things interesting. Your mileage may vary, of course.  
**

 **CaedmonCousland : Shoji has at this point essentially become part of the main cast for Torchbearer, so for sure you will see a lot of him. I don't dislike Koda and Sato, but for some reason I keep overlooking them. I promise I'm not doing it on purpose, it's just that I've got so many other characters that I like more q.q Your ideas for the Cavalry Battle are super interesting, but, well...you'll see.**

 **CodeTalker69 : I haven't set in stone whether I'll be doing that relationship yet or not. If it doesn't contribute much to the story, then I probably won't. I will add that suggestion to the end of the post-chapter A/N. And yes, I know RWBY. I absolutely love RWBY. Monty Oum was an absolute legend and it's a tragedy that he died so young.  
**

 **Alexzander95 : That's...an interesting idea. I've considered the idea of possibly doing a spinoff or something of that nature. More on this once I have more time to think about it, probably in an A/N somewhere.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : I'm glad that you enjoyed Izuku's internal process. While this can get him in trouble sometimes, I like showing that it's still good if used properly. I appreciate that you feel I'm handling their relationship in a realistic way, since that's something I'm definitely putting thought into. Without putting too much of a spoiler in the review section, I will say that your theory on Other Izuku is pretty much spot-on and that he is not a malevolent force, though neither is he one to be ignored.**

 **Happy to know that you enjoy Denki, Shoto and Tooru, since you'll be seeing more of all of them in this chapter! I am pleased with how Katsuki's speech turned out. I feel like I kept him in-character while still showing how much he's changed up to this point in a single paragraph. If that felt like a race, then this is going to feel like pure chaos which...I guess is good? She did touch his back, but I'm going out on a limb here and saying that, like with Tooru's Quirk, Ochako's deals just a bit with her intentions. If she wanted only his shirt to be weightless, then she could do that, but if she wants him to be weightless then she can do that too. This likely only works with thin materials, like clothing.**

 **Cieszesi Niezmiernie D3lph0xL0v3r, Kirbylover99, bhennen, LordXG3, the_narr_master, the yeah, XBolt51, Suzukisuzu, Sentinel07 and everyone else: Thank you for your support and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's get into the second event!**

* * *

Chapter Thirty: Strike Three

"Alright, everyone!" Midnight announced with a grand flourish towards the giant screen that dominated one side of the field, "Now that we've all had a second to get the first event's applause out of our systems, I shall announce the second event! What could it be? THIS!"

On the screen there appeared three words: Capture the Flag.

"That's right! It's that popular game that I'm sure so many of you are familiar with, except this version comes with a twist!" she twirled on the spot to illustrate her point, "In just a moment we're going to have everyone break up into teams of four with one very special team having _five_ members due to the fact that the first forty-one students to pass will be moving on! Why forty-one? Because here at U.A. we go BEYOND!"

"PLUS ULTRA!" the crowd shouted on cue along with Midnight.

"The rules are simple." she continued after the uproar had died down, "Each team will be given a flag that has their point value listed on it. They will then have five minutes to choose a base of operations and strategize. Once the game starts, teams will have fifteen minutes to accumulate as many flags as possible! The members of the teams with the most points will advance to the third and final event until we have a total of sixteen members advancing. It all sounds pretty simple, right?"

Midnight licked her lips and Izuku Midoriya dry-swallowed nervously. He felt as though something terrible was coming.

"I'm afraid there's a bit more to it than that!" Midnight revealed, wagging a finger and winking at the camera that was recording the event, "You've all probably been so busy watching me that you haven't been paying attention to our lovely little construction crew!"

Indeed, Power Loader, Cementoss and a crew of a couple dozen mixed robots and engineers were bustling around the field, hastily excavating, erecting and even, on the part of a few workers, painting lines on the ground.

"Each team will have its own designated territory." Midnight explained, "In an ordinary game of Capture the Flag, getting tagged by the enemy while in their territory would send you to that team's jail, where you would have to be freed by one of your teammates. I'm here to tell you that is NOT the case today! If you get tagged by another team while you're in their territory, then you have to go back to your own base before continuing the game! A tag is defined as any form of intentional bodily contact initiated by an opposing player. If, for instance, you pushed another player out of the way while still in their territory, you would be safe!"

Izuku was thankful for the clarification, but it was beginning to sound like Midnight was suggesting that they would be-

"You heard me right, folks! Anything and everything goes! Quirk usage is perfectly legal and offensive actions are encouraged! Just don't take things too far, okay? No kicking them while they're down and once you've tagged an enemy player, you are not allowed to prevent them from returning to their base. Similarly, tagged players are not allowed to engage in any action that is unrelated to returning to their base. Oh, and no damaging the flags! Now, before we start breaking up into teams, allow me to reveal each participant's point value! It's actually very simple: Number forty-one is worth ten points, number forty is fifteen, number thirty-nine is twenty and so on."

Then midnight smiled evilly and Izuku swore that she was looking directly at him.

 _You know, some people would kill to have the R-rated Hero look at them like that._

"There is one _very_ lucky exception, however." she said, which did nothing to ease Izuku's impending sense of doom, "The first-place winner, instead of being worth two-hundred and ten points, is worth ten _million_!"

 _Oh, fuck me._

 _Don't encourage her._

"So, without further ado, here's what you're all worth!"

The screen changed to show the list of participants, sorted by point value.

1st: Izuku Midoriya – 10,000,000

2nd: Katsuki Bakugo – 205

3rd: Tenya Iida – 200

4th: Mezo Shoji – 195

5th: Ochako Uraraka – 190

6th: Eijiro Kirishima – 185

7th: Shoto Todoroki – 180

8th: Ibara Shiozaki – 175

9th: Juzo Honenuki – 170

10th: Fumikage Tokoyami – 165

11th: Hanta Sero – 160

12th: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu – 155

13th: Mashirao Ojiro – 150

14th: Yosetsu Awase – 145

15th: Tsuyu Asui – 140

16th: Momo Yaoyorozu – 135

17th: Rikido Sato – 130

18th: Mina Ashido – 125

19th: Koji Koda – 120

20th: Kyoka Jiro – 115

21st: Sen Kaibara – 110

22nd: Kosei Tsuburaba – 105

23rd: Denki Kaminari – 100

24th: Kojiro Bondo – 95

25th: Reiko Yanagi – 90

26th: Hitoshi Shinso – 85

27th: Itsuka Kendo – 80

28th: Jurota Shishida – 75

29th: Shihai Kuroiro – 70

30th: Yui Kodai – 65

31st: Hiryu Rin – 60

32nd: Nirengeki Shoda – 55

33rd: Kinoko Komori – 50

34th: Togaru Kamakiri – 45

35th: Neito Monoma – 40

36th: Pony Tsunotori – 35

37th: Tooru Hagakure – 30

38th: Setsuna Tokage – 25

39th: Manga Fukidashi – 20

40th: Mei Hatsume – 15

41st: Yuga Aoyama – 10

"It appears that everyone from 1-A and 1-B made the cut." Shoji observed.

"Yeah, and that guy from before too." Kirishima added.

"What guy?" Izuku asked, desperate to ignore the hungry looks that were being directed his way by everyone that was not part of Kacchan's crew.

"Oh, that's right, you weren't there." Kirishima realized, "Well, that blond kid from 1-B showed up and started talking a bunch of smack. Bakugo was about ready to blow his head off but that Shinso guy broke it up before it could get too hairy. Then he basically threw down the gauntlet to the entire Hero Course but hey, what can you do?" he shrugged with a smirk.

"Alright, you all have ten minutes to form teams while we finish setting up. Choose carefully!" Midnight announced before hopping off her platform to get out of the way of the construction crew.

"Tch. This blows." Kacchan griped.

"Yes, I see what you mean." Iida agreed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ochako wondered.

"The teams can only be four or five people." Kacchan replied, "We're gonna have to split up. I didn't really wanna have to crush you guys until the final event."

Izuku nodded silently, having come to the same conclusion.

"Well, what do we do then?" Ochako prompted.

Kacchan was about to answer, but Izuku beat him to the punch.

"It's obvious, right? I'm the weak link here since I've got this ten-million point target on my back. Whatever team I end up with is going to have their work cut out for them. The reasonable thing to do is for you guys to form a team of five and cut me loose. You'll have a better chance of advancing that way."

Ochako surprised Izuku by tugging her arm off of his shoulder and shoving him, stumbling slightly as she regained her balance.

She looked mad.

"Deku-kun, that's a really dumb thing to say for someone who's supposed to be so smart. Do you honestly think we'd all abandon you because of something like that?"

"Yeah, man. I mean, that'd be one of the _least_ manly things we could do!" Kirishima seconded.

"Besides," Kacchan added, "if I just took all the awesome for myself then it'd hardly be a fair fight. I don't want some cheap victory from you, Deku; I want a real contest. You know as well as I do what the third event usually is. You and me are gonna finish what we started in the Battle Trial today in front of all these witnesses! So, we're gonna split the team down the middle, half to you and half to me. We'll agree to stay out of each other's way and we'll all make it to the final event."

"Bakubro!" Kirishima seemed to be on the verge of manly tears, "That's the sort of shit that'll make me follow you to hell and back! So manly!"

"You see?" Ochako said as she took her place at Izuku's side while he processed the events that were taking place, "One way or another, we'll stick together."

"I shall also stand by you, Midoriya-san." Shoji gave him a thumbs-up.

"Guess that means you're with us, eh, Iida?" Kirishima grinned.

"No."

Silence fell.

"Iida-san…what are you saying?" Izuku found his voice.

"Do you remember our first day, Midoriya-san, Bakugo-san?" Iida asked, looking even more serious than usual, "The three of us were the ones who made the biggest impression. We were 1-A's big three; the ones that everyone saw as the strongest and most charismatic. I do not feel that way about myself, but the one thing that I cannot deny is that the two of you have proven yourselves time and again while I have been left in the dust. Our performance in the first event is just one more incidence of this. The five of you are all wonderful friends. Indeed, I consider you my best friends. However, I feel that I must prove myself here today. To that end, I shall challenge you. May the best team win."

With that, Iida strode off in the direction of some other 1-A students and was gone.

"Well, that sucks." Kirishima observed, "I can see where he's coming from though."

"Kiri!" a pink bundle of energy glomped the redhead from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck as he took a half-step forward to balance himself, "You've still got a spot left on your team, right? Right? I want in!"

"What do you say, boss?" Kirishima looked to Kacchan, "You've seen what Ashido can do; I think she'd really crank up the manliness of this team."

"Sure, whatever." Kacchan replied flippantly, "I guess we could do worse. Let's go find our fourth person then. See you in the third round, Deku."

"Yeah." Izuku responded with a determined nod. Now all he had to do was find one more member and-

"Hey, you! Yeah, you! Mr. Ten-Million!" an unfamiliar female voice caused Izuku to spin around, only to find himself face-to-face with a pink-haired girl with yellow eyes that had odd markings on the irises that resembled crosshairs, "I wanna use your position to my advantage, so let me on your team!"

Izuku backed up a step or two, since the girl was _much_ closer to him than he was comfortable with. In doing so, he noticed that she was decked out in all sorts of gadgets. It was then that he recognized her from the obstacle race.

"Ah! You're that girl from the Support Course!"

The recognition made the girl's already wide grin grow even wider.

"That's right! Mei Hatsume, inventor extraordinaire, at your service! Along with all of my super-cute babies, of course!"

As Mei started waxing eloquent about her myriad inventions, which she referred to as "her babies," Izuku slowly became hopefully optimistic about his team's chances.

 _With Hatsume-san providing equipment and support, this might actually be possible!_

Izuku scanned the field.

 _What we need is the right sort of base; the kind that will negate our team's weakness to ranged attacks…there!_

"I have a plan." Izuku said, getting everyone's attention immediately, "Follow me."

Ochako, who had recovered enough to walk on her own at this point, saluted him.

"Yes, sir!"

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Shoto Todoroki was honestly doing his best to remain calm and focused for the coming event.

"Todo, come _on_! Help me find a fourth person!"

A certain invisible girl who had immediately added herself to his team when they were given the go-ahead by Midnight, however, was making that rather difficult.

"I already found someone. You pick."

"Yaomomo-chan doesn't count! _She_ came to _you_! You didn't have to do anything!"

"You came to me too, so technically I found _two_ people."

" _Excuse_ me? I found _myself_ , thank you very much." Shoto was unable to tell exactly, due to Hagakure's invisible nature, but he could have sworn that she was pouting. He was only partially sure however, due to the fact that she also sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

She was weird, in other words. Not _annoying_ per-se, but certainly someone who never failed to rattle Shoto's cage.

Which was an activity she seemed to take an absolutely _fiendish_ delight in.

"Um," Yaoyorozu was looking slightly nonplussed by the interaction taking place before her, "if it helps, I joined you because I thought that I could provide some assistance with Creation, as well as the fact that I know from firsthand experience that your strength is genuine, Todoroki-san. You are also a good deal more reasonable than several of our other classmates and thus, easier for me to deal with."

"Yaomomo-chan," Hagakure said exasperatedly, "Todo is _impossible_. Seriously, I can't take him anywhere."

Shoto could feel his eye twitching.

 _Don't engage. Don't encourage her._

 _Don't do it._

"I'm sorry," he found himself responding, "have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"Shockingly enough, I have not."

"That's because you're impossible."

Shoto was met with silence as the two girls (presumably, in Hagakure's case) looked at him with confusion.

"To…see." Shoto was forced to explain. "You're invisible. So…you're impossible to see. Hence the…mirror."

Hagakure took a step closer to him and patted him on the shoulder in a consoling manner.

"You see?" she said to Yaoyorozu, "Can't take him anywhere."

"Just…go find a fourth person." Shoto said resignedly.

As she skipped off towards Koda, who was standing nearby and looking nervous, Shoto took a moment to take a long, deep breath and cool his head.

That girl was going to be the death of him. Or someone else.

Why did he let her hang around him again?

Seriously…call _him_ impossible. _She_ was impossible.

Hence the mirror.

Shoto had been proud of that one. It was clever. Nuanced. It wasn't even a joke, because Shoto Todoroki did _not_ tell jokes. It was more of a…satirical observation used as a witty retort.

Yeah.

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Denki Kaminari could hardly believe his luck. Not only had Jiro joined up with him almost immediately, but now he had Iida too!

Sure, Jiro had stated that her main reason for joining up with him was the she would still be able to make him listen to her if he overused his Quirk and that it would look bad if the Class President failed to advance because of something like that, but Denki knew that there was more to it than that.

For one thing, they had worked together before and knew each other's strengths. For another, despite whatever Jiro might say to the contrary, they got along fairly well. If Denki was being honest, she was the first person he would have chosen for his team. It was good to know that she agreed, albeit in her own special way.

Then there was Iida; their resident speed demon. Denki may not have been the brightest bulb in the box, but even he immediately realized how useful such a teammate could be. Plus, as the third-place finisher, he was worth almost as many points as Denki and Jiro combined.

That took care of offense as far as Denki was concerned, so they just needed someone who could handle defense.

Defense…

"Yo, Prez, you look like someone's blasting scratch noise into your ears. What gives?" Jiro inquired as she poked him with one of her Earphone Jacks.

"Yes, if there is anything we can do to assist, please do not hesitate to inform us." Iida added.

"Well, I'm trying to work out who we should go after as our fourth member." Denki explained, "We have a strong offense now, but we need someone more suited to defense."

"I get ya." Jiro nodded, crossing her arms, "We've got the big noisemakers but we still need a solid bass line to tie it all together."

Iida, meanwhile, was scanning the field, taking stock of who remained.

"I believe I may have a solution. See if you can locate a base with a decent amount of shade. I shall return posthaste." then he sped off.

"Well, I guess we leave it to Iida, then?" Jiro sought confirmation, which Denki immediately gave in the form of a sharp nod as he strolled off towards what looked like a concrete bunker that led underground.

"If there's one thing he's not, it's unreliable." Denki stated with full confidence, "Whatever it is he's up to, he'll pull through. We just need to do our part, right?"

Jiro made a noise of assent as they walked, trying not to look like they were up to something.

"Hell," Denki added after a moment, "he'd probably do my job better than I would. I was honestly expecting someone like him to win it."

He nearly ate shit when the shorter girl shoved him hard in the back.

"Don't sell yourself short. You're supposed to be the front man, right?"

"I…guess?"

Why was she mad? She was usually the first to take jabs at him. Denki pondered this while Jiro, unheard by him, muttered something about a wasted vote.

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Neito Monoma was thinking. This was not unusual; he was usually thinking. This was simply what he _did_. It had been his plan, after all, for most of the 1-B students to deliberately lag behind in order to get a better idea of what their counterparts' Quirks were.

That plan, incidentally, had worked like a charm. Well, except for that team of six that had decided to screw gravity and fly all the way to the finish line. That was hardly even a speed bump though, since Neito had prior knowledge on a couple of them and had been able to deduce the rest from what little he _had_ seen.

That Midoriya, the one who had won first place and a big fat target to go along with it, he was the one from the USJ incident. Neito knew that he Quirk involved fire from the image that had been shown, but he didn't know exactly how it worked. The big one, Shoji, was simple enough to understand: he was a mutant-type and therefore useless to Neito.

Second-place, that Bakugo. He was the one that Neito had taunted before. His Quirk had been on full display as he used his explosions to steer their makeshift aircraft. He could probably have some fun with a Quirk like that. Third-place, that rich kid from the Iida family, also had an obvious Quirk; his whole family was built on speed and engines that were integrated into their bodies. Technically a mutation and, therefore, not something that Neito could use.

That just left the redhead and the girl. Neito had not seen the redhead in action himself, but Tetsutetsu, who was currently doing some stretches to limber himself up, had reported that he had a Quirk strikingly similar to his own Steel. That meant that the only Quirk remaining was the gravity manipulation, which had to belong to the girl by process of elimination.

It was a simple deduction, really.

As for teammates, Neito had immediately recruited the sturdy Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and, after a bit of consideration, the bizarre Manga Fukidashi. Both of them were useful in their own right, but both were also uniquely useful to Neito by virtue of his Quirk.

That just left one remaining spot and Neito had known who he wanted since the ten minutes had started. He sauntered towards the student and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Yo, long time no see…"

He had experienced his Quirk firsthand, after all.

"…Shinso-san."

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After the ten minutes had passed, there were noticeably fewer students in the central area of the field. Midnight did not bother commenting about this, though she did give a knowing smile.

"Now that everything is all set up, would each team please choose a captain and send them forward to claim your flag! You will then have five minutes to choose a base and come up with your plan of action. The first team to be inside of a given base is considered to have claimed that zone. With that in mind…three zones have already been claimed. That was quick!"

One by one, the team captains reported their members and claimed their flags. As they did so, the giant screen updated with the team name and point total.

Team Midoriya: 10,000,400 points

Team Bakugo: 665 points

Team Kaminari: 580 points

Team Todoroki: 465 points

Team Aoyama: 440 points

Team Honenuki: 405 points

Team Awase: 375 points

Team Kendo: 340 points

Team Kaibara: 330 points

Team Monoma: 300 points

"You may have noticed that the individual team members aren't listed. That's on purpose! You won't always know what you're getting yourself into, so the ability to plan and improvise is key!"

Izuku put on a show of walking directly to a base that he knew was unoccupied. As he had anticipated, several of the other teams were doing their best to burn holes in the back of his head with their eyes. That couldn't last though.

" _Alrighty, Captain-san, do you read me?"_ Hatsume's voice crackled in his ear from the communications device that she had provided to the entire team.

"I hear you, Hatsume-san. What's the situation?"

" _Me and the big guy have been keeping an eye on the other teams and it looks like just about all of them have stopped watching you. There's still a couple, but you can't do anything about that."_

"Understood. Returning to base now."

Izuku then adjusted his course to curve back to the territory that his team had actually claimed, which was a small cave that had been formed from excavated earth, reinforced with some form of adhesive and placed against the wall of the arena.

When Izuku returned, he found Shoji scanning the entire field with six tentacleyes and Hatsume peering at some of the further bases, here irises contracting and expanding oddly. She had explained that her Quirk was Zoom, which allowed her eyes to zoom in on distant things like a pair of high-powered binoculars. Ochako was keeping herself concealed in the cave at Izuku's request, since it would benefit them to keep their team makeup as much of a surprise as possible. Hopefully the shadowy cave was also contributing to this.

"I'm pretty sure that there's two or three teams that know we're here." Hatsume reported.

"Got any idea where specific teams have set up shop?" Izuku prompted.

"Team Bakugo is in the area immediately to our left." Shoji reported, "Our other side is occupied by Team Kendo, though they do not seem to realize our location."

"What's our plan, Deku-kun?" Ochako asked, her expression determined.

"Well, I'm tempted to put the entire team on defense." Izuku admitted, "As long as we can hold on to our flag, there's no way that we won't advance, even if one other team managed to gather all nine other flags. There's one big problem with that though."

"We would be vulnerable to area-of-effect Quirks." Shoji nodded, "Todoroki-san comes to mind, as does Kaminari-san. This is not even considering what sorts of Quirks the members of 1-B may possess." Izuku nodded, confirming Shoji's assertion.

"That's why the only one who will be in the base itself is Shoji-san."

"What?!" Ochako was clearly shocked by this. Hatsume seemed to be some mixture of intrigued and nervous.

"Baby! That sounds super-risky! I like it!"

Shoji did not say anything, simply meeting Izuku's eyes with his two normal ones for a moment before nodding.

"I have faith in Shoji-san's ability to defend our flag." Izuku stated, "After all, with the cave protecting us from ranged attacks, all he has to do is tag anyone who enters before they can take the flag. A single touch is all it takes to send them back where they came from. Who better for that then the one with six arms? Not to mention that sneak attacks are unlikely to work on him. If worst comes to worst, he can always radio for help."

"I shall not fail." Shoji said, taking the flag from Izuku and planting it firmly in the center of the cave.

"Hatsume-san, you'll be something of a floater. I need you to patrol our territory and hinder any intruders as much as you can. You'll also be using your Quirk to try and predict whether or not we're about to get swarmed. Make sure to keep in contact."

The pink-haired gadgeteer considered this for a moment before grinning widely, a sudden sparkle in her eyes.

"Ah-ha! I've got just the baby for this! Don't worry, boss-man, I'll be sure to show off as much as possible!" she bolted out of the cave without a second thought.

"That just leaves you and me, Uraraka-san." Izuku turned to Ochako, "We'll nominally be on offense, but in reality, we'll be serving as decoys."

"What do you mean, Deku-kun?"

At this, Izuku gave a smile that made Ochako's eyes widen.

"We're going to exploit a few loopholes in the rules."

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"Are you sure about this, Awase?"

"Absolutely!" Yosetsu Awase grinned as he staked his team's flag as deep into the ground as he could get it before placing both hands around the base and concentrating for a moment. A short burst of yellow cracks spidering out from where the flag met the ground confirmed that his Quirk, Weld, had been successful.

"We'll divide and conquer!" he declared as he pumped his fist, "Our flag is welded to the ground at the molecular level! There's no way to separate it and breaking the flags is illegal! Anything we get will be completely untouchable!"

"I just hope you know what you're doing…" Yui Kodai shook her head, remembering a certain old adage about counting one's chickens before they hatch.

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"Are you sure about this, Ashido?" Kirishima said, looking as though he was having second thoughts.

"Absolutely!" Ashido grinned as she covered their team's flag in acid that was deliberately not quite strong enough to damage it, "I'll be here to protect it, of course, but if anyone tries to steal it, well…they'll be in for a nasty surprise!"

"I like it." Bakugo said, rolling his shoulder in preparation for what was to come, "This means that the three of us are free to focus on offense! I'll go by myself and Kirishima and Ojiro will team up. As long as we each bring back a flag, we should be in the clear."

Ojiro gave Kirishima a pat on the shoulder.

"What's the use in worrying? It's true that we didn't have the time to plan anything better, but the other teams are working under these same restrictions, right?"

Kirishima had to admit that the man had a point.

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"Are you sure about this, Todo?" Hagakure voiced her concern as she folded up her gym clothes and laid them in a neat pile, along with her shoes, by the base of their flag in order to make full use of her Quirk.

"What part of the plan sounds bad to you?" Shoto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"None of it, it's just…"

"If I may," Yaoyorozu interjected, "I believe that she means to say that the three of us staying back to defend the flag while you go out into the field alone may prove risky."

Koda nodded, seconding this statement.

Shoto took a moment to process the fact that they would be concerned over something like this.

"To be blunt," he responded, "you all would probably get in my way. If I have to worry about catching one of you in the crossfire, then I won't be able to use the full extent of my abilities."

"What do you mean, Todo?"

"I mean," Shoto said as he casually strolled away from the pit that served as their base, "I'm going to exploit some loopholes in the rules."

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"Are you sure about this, Monoma?" Tetsutetsu said, eyebrow raised, "I mean, it just seems kinda…you know."

"I am very sure, Tetsutetsu." Neito reassured his teammate, "I understand and appreciate your concerns, but our fifty-fifty split will provide excellent results, just you wait. Besides," here Neito felt a grin stretch across his face, "if you follow our plan, then you're guaranteed to shake things up a bit."

"You aren't worried about getting in trouble?" Fukidashi asked while Shinso looked on, his tired expression unreadable.

"Trouble?" Neito cocked his head, "Why, Fukidashi-san, all we're doing is exploiting a small loophole in the rules."

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"You know, I've been thinking," Denki said to his team as the last of their five minutes ticked down, "fifteen minutes of prep time followed by a fifteen-minute event and that was all after the opening ceremony and the first event and then the time that they took introducing the second one, then the third event after that…doesn't this all seem a bit too long? I mean, they have to do this two more times today, right? For the second and third years?"

"I am sure they have it all planned out, Kaminari-san." Iida replied while Jiro and Tokoyami listened in, "Besides, fifteen minutes for this event does not seem that long to me at all. If anything, it will go by in a flash."

"Why's that?" Jiro inquired.

"Because the rules here favor defense."

" _Alright!"_ Present Mic's voice boomed over the field once more, _"Ready or not, the second event starts NOW!"_

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Shoto strolled purposefully to the very center of the field, where all of the territory lines intersected. He had already been on his way when the starting signal was given, so he reached the center with time to spare before the first wave of students converged on it.

See, people were predictable, especially when they were under a time constraint. The average person is able to move most quickly in one specific direction: forward. This meant that the average person had an unconscious inclination to charge straight ahead when time was an issue. Now, Shoto was not naïve enough to consider the lion's share of U.A. students average, but there was no doubt in his mind that there would be at least a few who adhered to this way of thinking.

He was proven correct as several students came screaming out of their respective gates at full-tilt. Shoto mentally counted down in his head before unleashing his Quirk in the form of a large field of ice that radiated from his person and froze the legs of those who were not quick enough to jump and avoid it.

"Fuck you, Half-and-Half!" one of whom was Bakugo as he sailed over the field using his Quirk to boost himself. Oh well; you couldn't have everything. At least he had managed to lock down a few members of the other teams.

After all, there was no rule that said that he could _only_ interfere with those in his own territory.

Now to find Midoriya's team…

…Oh. He was right there. Out in the open. With Uraraka keeping watch by standing on top of the cement structure that must have been their base.

…Were those vines blocking the entrance? One of the highly-placed students, Shiozaki, had possessed vines for hair. Perhaps Midoriya had teamed up with her for strategic purposes? It seemed like the sort of thing he would do. Shoto had certainly not seen it coming, so that was more points in Midoriya's favor.

Unfortunately for him, there was no way that such a defense would stop Shoto. Or Bakugo for that matter, but he seemed to be keen on attacking other teams for some reason.

Oh, well. More for Shoto. He made a beeline for Midoriya's base. The other boy did not seem to have noticed him yet.

"Deku-kun! Todoroki-san is inbound!" Uraraka suddenly cried.

"Already?!" Midoriya spun around and saw Shoto approaching, "Crap, we didn't plan on him showing up this soon!"

Why not though? Shoto had made it abundantly clear that he was gunning for Midoriya back in the waiting room. Could it be that Midoriya had forgotten during the rush of the first event, or had he gotten cocky and thought that his display might possibly dissuade Shoto?

Either way, he had made a mistake. As soon as he moved to tag Shoto, he would be frozen where he stood.

But Midoriya didn't approach him. If anything, he was slowly backing away towards the base.

"Deku-kun, what do we do?!" Uraraka was attempting to hurry him. For good reason too. Soon their base would be within Shoto's ideal range.

"I don't know!" Midoriya shouted, "If we try and tag him then he'll just freeze us and we'll be useless after that! Maybe…" Shoto could see the gears turning in his head and as Midoriya's shoulders slumped, Shoto could see that he had given up.

There really were some fights that you just couldn't win. If he had been given more time to plan, or if he had been given more freedom of movement, then perhaps Midoriya could have put up a better fight. As it was, he had come to the only logical conclusion…

"We need to retreat. Once he gets the flag, he'll fall back to his base to defend it and we can get more points from the other teams. We aren't equipped to deal with him right now!"

…Cut his losses and run.

"Dang it!" Uraraka stomped on the roof of the base as she forced herself to accept the situation and Midoriya wasted no time in grabbing her and sailing off in a seemingly random direction, weightless.

Well, Shoto had honestly thought better of him, even if his decision was a rational one. Midoriya didn't seem like the type to just abandon his objective like that.

It was with a feeling of anticlimax that Shoto extended his right arm and froze the base from top to bottom. If anyone was inside, then their legs would be frozen, but no more. He wasn't out to hurt anyone, after all.

"Eek! S-so mush ice!"

"Lord in heaven, where did it all come from?!"

Shoto raised an eyebrow. There were two distinct female voices coming from inside the base, neither of which he recognized. Had Team Midoriya adopted a completely defensive strategy?

As Shoto shattered the frozen vines at the entrance, he beheld Shiozaki as he had guessed, as well as a girl with a mushroom-style haircut that covered her eyes. The interior of the base was also littered with various types of frozen mushrooms. Must have been her Quirk.

"Apologies, but I'll be taking that flag now."

"Y-you're Shoto Todoroki!" the mushroom girl gasped, "But why? Our flag isn't worth very mush. We thought you'd be going after a higher-profile team!"

"Indeed, that is a good point, Komori-san." Shiozaki agreed, "Pray explain yourself, Todoroki-san, since it seems that we are no longer able to resist you."

Wait…

What?

"This isn't Team Midoriya's base?"

"Heavens, no!" Shiozaki looked truly confused, "This humble chapel is the sanctuary of Team Kendo!"

"Then why…"

Oh.

 _Oh._

Son of a bitch. He'd been played. Midoriya had taken Uraraka and deliberately made him think that another team's base was theirs. Of _course_ he hadn't tried to tag him, because it wouldn't have mattered if he did! All he needed to do was stall for time!

Fuck! Now he couldn't trust that whatever base Midoriya was defending was actually _his_.

That was it. That was checkmate. Unless he stumbled upon Team Midoriya's base by accident, Shoto would have no way of finding it and he wasn't about to waste time just wandering around.

Shoto used his left hand to thaw the ground by the base of the flag and yanked it out, noting that it was worth three-hundred and forty points, which would bring his team's total to eight-hundred and five once he brought it back.

That would just have to do. He would keep an eye on the scoreboard and freeze anyone who entered his team's territory. If things started looking bad, then he would go on another hunt to whatever base happened to be nearby.

As Shoto made his steady way back to his base, he could hear Present Mic enthusiastically announcing the first capture of the game, but he tuned him out in favor of his own thoughts.

 _Well-played, Midoriya. I'll see you in the third event._

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was suspicious.

Not in the sense that he was a suspicious type of person, though people that didn't know him very well might have thought so. No, he was suspicious _of_ something.

In particular, the apparently-unattended flag standing in some unknown team's base.

"This has to be a trap, right?" he grumbled to himself as he walked in a circle around the flag, looking for any signs of foul play.

The hell of it was, he didn't find anything. Either whoever trapped this thing was a goddamn expert, or it wasn't actually trapped and somebody was just a huge idiot.

Only one way to find out.

Katsuki gripped the shaft of the flag and yanked, but the flag didn't budge.

"…The fuck?"

He tried a few more times, but it was stuck fast. Apparently it had somehow been glued to the ground.

Well, alright. If that was how it was going to be, then he would just have to get creative.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Mina Ashido was feeling pretty good about herself. She had personally repelled no fewer than five attackers so far. As she had intended, even though one of them had gotten their hands on the flag, it didn't matter. They had barely budged it before they dropped it, sporting some fresh acid burns on their hands. While they were distracted, she had tagged them and sent them on their way.

After re-securing the flag to the ground and refreshing the acidic coating, Mina had decided to take a peek outside and see how things were going.

The center of the field was frozen over along with the base located two over from hers, so Todoroki was clearly on the prowl. That could be a problem. Well, at least there didn't seem to be anyone else in the area-

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" a student who appeared to have a speech bubble where his head should be suddenly leapt out from around the corner and started screaming bloody murder. Mina responded appropriately.

"AAHHH!" * **SMACK** *

Namely, by letting out an involuntary scream of her own and slapping the shit out of the poor kid.

She was about to tell him to go back to his base and think about what he'd done, when a large student who appeared to be made of steel dashed through the entrance on the opposite side.

"Nice one, Fukidashi!" he laughed, "Way to take one for the team!"

It had been a distraction! Mina whirled around and shot towards the boy, who had finished yanking her team's flag out of the ground.

"Put that down!" * **KRONG** * "OW!"

Note to self: slapping metal people is a bad idea. The metal person in question blinked at her before giving her a sharp-toothed grin that reminded her of Kiri.

"You know, I don't think I'mma do that. I think I'll just take it back to my base. 'Scuse me."

He exited the base and Mina, after taking a couple of seconds to process the fact that he _was still holding on to the acid-covered flag_ , pursued him.

"Hey, wait! I tagged you!"

"So?"

"So you need to put that flag down!"

"Nope. All I need to do when you tag me is head back to my base, which is what I'm doing."

"I'll stop you!"

"You can't do that, remember? Once you tag someone, you have to leave 'em the hell alone until they get back to their base."

"You…that's…"

Shit. He was right. He had her team's flag and there was nothing she could do about it.

Should she chase him? Try and steal back the flag? No. She'd be outnumbered and at a disadvantage if she did that.

"Damn it!" she stamped her foot in irritation and stomped back to her base to wait for her team members to bring back more flags.

They, at least, could do their jobs right.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Tenya Iida was pacing back and forth in front of one of Class 1-B's bases, trying to work out a plan of attack. He had originally planned on just barreling past the defenses, snatching the flag and then dashing out before they had the chance to react, but upon his first attempt, one of the defenders, a rather bestial-looking fellow, had reacted by significantly increasing in size and bestiality.

Tenya was not a betting man and therefore did not fancy the idea of charging headlong into the literal jaws of the beast. He would need to find a way to circumvent this foe instead of facing him head-on. After all, a single touch would be enough to send him back to his starting point.

Especially because, judging from the rumbling growl emanating from the furry guardian, who was now standing on all-fours, he might have an interest in inflicting a bit more than a simple touch.

In fact…he was looking rather antsy. As though he were having some trouble standing still.

"Shishida-san," he heard the gray-haired girl say from inside the base, "you need to calm yourself. You should transform back."

"Lady Yanagi, I am afraid that this is not an option." the beast, apparently named Shishida, responded with a growl, "For you see, in the very instant that I take this course of action, he will undoubtedly charge. Fearsome though I am, I do not have confidence that I will be able to resume this form in time. We must not underestimate the speed of this one."

"Forgive me for saying so, Shishida-san," Tenya said, getting an idea, "but I must confess myself surprised: your visage and your mannerisms are at odds with one another."

"Indeed, Sir Iida." Shishida agreed, his claw-like fingers digging into the ground, "I am a gentleman with the body of a beast, but one cannot help what one has been born with; they can only make the best of it."

"Oh?" Tenya lifted his chin ever so slightly, arching an eyebrow as he did, "One who is so clearly a beast pretending to be a gentleman deigns to lecture me? Me, a scion of the Iida family, who have borne naught but Heroes for generations?"

"Sirrr," Shishida growled, shoulders hunching, "I must advise you to watch your tongue. Some of yourrr statements may be taken as offensive."

"Oh, was my meaning unclear?" Tenya gave his most condescendingly aristocratic smirk, "My apologies, allow me to re-iterate: You are beneath me, Shishida-san."

"RRROOOOAAAAAHHHHH!" Shishida could not take any more and leapt towards Tenya, "SIIIRRR IIIDAAAA! I CHALLENGE YOU TO FISTICUFFS!"

"No! Shisida-san, get back here!" the girl, Yanagi, called from in the base.

Well, he was certainly faster than Tenya had anticipated.

But not by much.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Denki had reached his destination and motioned to Jiro to approach. They had decided to scout out the base nearest to theirs, reasoning that if they were repelled, then it wouldn't take them long to recover. At the same time, they didn't want to be discovered, so they had elected to sneak.

The plan was simple: Jiro would plug one of her jacks into the wall of the base and try and figure out how many were inside. If it was one or two, then Denki would charge in, zap everyone in the room, grab the flag and bail. If he overdid it, then Jiro would grab the flag and bail, ordering him to follow her.

Even if they failed, they still had Iida off somewhere else. As long as they could get a flag back to their base, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow could defend it. As his bird-headed classmate had explained, Dark Shadow grew stronger while in darkness and/or shadows. Go figure.

"Hear anything?" he whispered low enough that any normal person wouldn't have heard him. Jiro was anything but normal, however, particularly when one used one of her Earphone Jacks as a microphone.

"There's two…one's named Shinso…the other one hasn't given his name." she whispered into his ear, eyes partially closed as she concentrated, "That one, he's talking about some plan or other…saying that his teammates should have no trouble taking a flag."

So they had a limited time before more people showed up.

"Anything else before I go in there and give 'em some shock treatment?"

"Hang on, they're talking really quietly…something about…rats?"

"SCREECH!" a voice suddenly bellowed from within the base, accompanied by a piercing tone that seemed to slice through the air and stab directly into Denki's brain.

"AAAHHH!" Jiro let out a scream of pure agony as her body convulsed before she fell to the ground.

Denki had managed to stop from crying out, but he could only imagine how bad the pain must have been for his teammate with her enhanced hearing…and she had been pushing that to the limit just then.

…Shit! Was she…was she actually okay?

Time out.

Time the fuck out.

"Jiro…" Denki turned her face to him. Her eyes were unfocused and leaking tears. She didn't seem to be aware of him. That wasn't the worst part though.

"Jiro…come on…" the worst part was the blood leaking from her ears.

"Jiro! Stay with me, damn it!"

There was a loud voice saying something, but Denki couldn't understand what it was saying. It was like his ears were full of cotton.

Movement.

Denki shot to his feet and turned to see a familiar face. It was the indigo-haired boy that he had spoken with before, Shinso.

This was Shinso's base.

Had Shinso done that just now?

He was wearing an expression of shock on his face and extending a hand to Denki. So, he wasn't the one then.

He was saying something, but Denki couldn't hear him.

The one who did that to Jiro was still in the base then.

Well, there was only one thing to do.

"Sorry, Shinso-san," Denki said as his electricity sparked to life all over his body, "I don't think this is your fault, but I need you to move."

Without waiting for a response, Denki charged forward and shoved Shinso hard in the chest, sanding him stumbling backwards, twitching as the electricity did its thing. Denki shot through the door, having to catch himself by overextending his leg and falling into a deep crouch.

… _My balance is shot…_

It turned out that was a stroke of good fortune, since a hand was outstretched right where Denki's head _should_ have been.

Then he saw the owner of the hand.

It was that guy. The one who had not only antagonized his entire class, but belittled what they'd gone through at USJ as well.

And now he'd hurt Jiro.

 _Strike three, motherfucker._

Denki lunched forward drunkenly and seized the boy by his shoulders, slamming him against the wall and focusing his electricity into his hands in a single burst.

"TASER FLASH!"

The room was briefly illuminated by a bright spark of electricity that contained Denki's full potency, but only focused it through part of his body instead of all of it. The result was a single, instantaneous, short-range burst that was equivalent to getting hit by his Indiscriminate Shock at full-power.

Plus, it only left him feeling a bit loopy instead of going full derp-mode. Of course, given his current status, this wasn't really of much comfort.

Flag. Get the flag. There was no point in all of this if he didn't at least do that.

Denki staggered over to the flag, allowing the unconscious boy to slump to the floor and wrenched it out of the ground, kicking up a chunk of dirt as he did so.

How much…three-hundred?

Heh. The flag that was worth the least.

Typical.

"Shinso…" he muttered as he exited the cave and saw the boy standing up, "I am _not_ in the mood right now, so kindly fuck off. We'll talk later."

Shinso was saying something, but seemed to realize that Denki couldn't hear him. He pointed to the ground behind him instead.

Jiro was looking at him.

"Hey…" he stumbled over, using the flag as a walking stick, "Alright…let's get you up…"

That was easier said than done though, as Denki currently felt like his center of gravity was about three feet behind him and to his left.

Then another person knelt down and helped Jiro to her feet, one arm slung across his shoulder.

It was Shinso. He reached out and tapped Denki on the arm and mouthed "tag." He then pointed back towards Denki's base.

Oh, so they had known the whole time.

Sure, why not?

Denki took Jiro's other arm and, with Shinso's help, got her back to their base. Along with the flag.

"Sorry…" Denki said to Shinso as he collapsed against a wall, taking Jiro down with him.

Shinso made an "X" with his arms and shook his head emphatically before pointing to himself.

 _No._ I'm _sorry._

"Damn, man…" Denki said with a pained smile, "…why you gotta go and be so cool?"

Shinso said something to Tokoyami that Denki couldn't hear and then, after receiving a poke in the chest, left.

Denki felt a tug on his sleeve and turned his head to see Jiro mouthing something to him.

He pointed to one ear and shook his head, smiling sadly.

She slumped back against the wall, sliding down it a bit before she was stopped by his shoulder, her own shoulders shaking slightly.

Damn, was she crying now? Well, he couldn't blame her if she was. Hearing was kind of her thing. If it was scary for him…he could only imagine.

"Hey…" he reached over, intending to do…something, but she turned to face him and he saw that she was...laughing?

"Huh?"

She took one look at his face and started laughing even harder, pointing at him even as she slid a bit further down the wall, grabbing his shirt for support.

"What's so funny?" his meaning must have been clear, because she pointed to his face and then made an exaggeratedly dumb-looking face to illustrate her point.

"Oh, so my face is stupid, huh?" he yanked on her shoulder, causing her to slide the rest of the way down the wall and collapse into his lap, where he began tickling her.

"I'll show you whose face is stupid! Who's making a stupid face _now_ , huh? HUH?!"

She ineffectively tried to stop him, howling with mirth that neither of them could hear.

They remained like that until a quartet of medical bots arrived to take them away.

* * *

 **That end scene was originally going to be different, but then I had a simple realization that changed Kyoka's reaction. You'll find out what that was next time, promise. Also, more Shinso! I know a lot of people were looking forward to seeing him again.  
**

 **Now, a couple of things from the reviews. Firstly, I was asked by our very own CodeTalker69, who is also the one responsible for creating the TvTropes page for the fic, how I would feel about someone doing a story where the canon MHA characters react to Torchbearer.**

 **In short, I would absolutely LOVE to see that and if anyone feels like doing that my only requirement is that you PM me the title so I can read it.**

 **Next, we had Renlu talking about the final round matchups. I was going to talk about these next chapter anyway, but why not start building up the hype now?**

 **I did the same thing I did for the Battle Trial. I figured out who the sixteen participants would be and I rolled those dice. The results...I was honestly blown away. There were two matches that ended up identical to canon in the first round, but otherwise everything is different and the end results of the tournament are going to be much different than what people expect. Probably. Unless you're crazy good at predicting things that happened because of random chance.**

 **So, that's my fun little question for you all this time! What do you think will be the final rankings of the tournament? Remember that we get first place, second place and TWO third places. If anyone manages to get this right then I will write a post-chapter omake based on any prompt of that person's choosing, no matter how crack-tastic it might be.  
**

 **The matchups for the tournament will be announced the chapter BEFORE the tournament actually starts, so you'll all have more than just one week to submit your answers and you are allowed to change them if you want, once per chapter.**

 **Next time: The second event concludes! Probably!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	31. Chapter 31: Youthful Earnestness

**UPDATE: It has been brought to my attention that for some reason not everybody was pinged about the new chapter on 11/18. I am pushing an update to try and re-ping, as it may have simply been an ffnet error. If you saw the original chapter, then you did not miss anything. Sorry for any confusion.  
**

 **I am pleased to announce that we have at long last surpassed 1,000 Favorites and 1,300 Follows! Additionally, the end of this chapter holds our first omake! These will be a mixture of canon and non-canon snippets that I either couldn't fit into the main story or didn't think of in time to do so. Or just things that I thought of and decided would be fun to write.**

 **Review Time:**

 **jaciro500, The 0bservanc3 : Predictions on the final outcome of tournament are already interesting even without knowing the lineup! Fear not, per the rules I laid out last time, you can change your prediction once per chapter until the fights actually start. I'll cover this again in the post-chapter A/N.  
**

 **Cieszesi Niezmiernie : There are actually only 41 participants this time. Remember that 1-A currently only has 19 members since Mineta is gone.**

 **the_narr_master : I always have fun writing Tooru and Shoto interacting with each other with Denki and Kyoka as a close second. We will certainly see more of that. We'll be getting more action soon too, so look forward to that. The good vibes certainly help. They keep that torch burning.**

 **LordXG3 : By all means, feel free to use Capture the Flag in your fic. I don't have a monopoly on games! XD Knowing that I helped inspire you to start writing is great. I love knowing that people enjoy my work, of course, but knowing that it helps inspire or instruct others is a whole separate kind off great. Your predictions are interesting. Obviously I can't say which are right and wrong because of spoilers, but you can absolutely change your prediction once per chapter until the fights start.**

 **Malchior** **: Don't give up on Momo just yet. After all, we still have some of the event left! As for the "spirit of the rules" thing, you do have a point, however Midnight does warn people not to get too rough, so shooting and breaking bones is most certainly against the rules. As for most of your other examples, you are quite right! If they thought to use such tactics, then they would, for the most part, be well within their rights to do so. In fact, two of these tactics get used in this very chapter! I didn't want to get too into the nitty gritty, since a lot of planning went into this event as-is.  
**

 **TheOneYouDontSee1 : Don't worry. Nobody is getting maimed in the second event.**

 **FeelsEntrepreneur : Welcome aboard! I do feel the pressure at times to move things along, especially at the beginning, but I never regret taking the time to explore a bit more. I think I've found a nice balance and ways to keep even low-action parts of the story relevant and interesting. That is indeed an M rating that you see and it may very well lead to what you are imagining at some point. Not for a while, mind you, but some point. I certainly have no intentions of stopping anytime soon!  
**

 **The 0bservanc3 : In the event that multiple teams wanted the 5-man groups, then Midnight would be forced to step in, with favor being given to the first team to reach that number. Fortunately, this didn't happen. If the five-team was one of the winners, then one team would have to choose a member to leave behind, with the fourth-place team getting more or less screwed in this regard unless there was a volunteer. The rules are indeed left purposefully full of loopholes for enterprising students to jump through. This is meant to test creativity as much as teamwork and whatnot. I have honestly not considered an IzukuxMidnight ship, but if that ever did happen and she wasn't arrested on the spot, I'm sure she'd have plenty of fun with euphemisms, yes.  
**

 **I maintain that there _is_ more to Monoma and this will be shown soon. It certainly won't _excuse_ some of the things he's done, but hopefully it will help to _explain_ them. Iida wasn't talking about combat prowess or power, he was talking about influence and leadership. If you recall, the first day of class had those three as sort of the guys in charge just based on the strong first impression that they gave. That's what he's talking about. I will neither confirm nor deny the status of TodoGakure and KamiJiro. The precise distance between the bases is...whatever the reader imagines it to be within reason. I tried to figure it out but gave up when it stopped being fun.**

 **I actually have a theory that each grade level is done on a separate day, making the Sports Festival last for three days. They do, after all, have two days off after it's all over. I only just thought of this a few hours ago. For Shoto getting fooled by Izuku and Ochako...little of column A, little of column B. As for Mina, this isn't _quite_ the same thing. This will be explored in this chapter. Shishida just kind of talks that way. I'm not confirming or denying anything regarding 1-B ships, except to say that I honestly haven't gotten there yet, so who knows? Which Quirk Monoma copied will be revealed next chapter for those who haven't figured it out yet. There will certainly still be a purpose to the Special Move training. It's super far into the future but I already have plans for it.  
**

 **bhennen, Eramis8, Mrguy22594, D3lph0xL0v3r, C_J_Robbins, Ezylryb, yousifkadri12, sneak13579, uchihaNaruto247, Engineer of Epicness, TheGreatPyro, Sentinel07, Guest, Jack Inqu, The Lonely Krieger, Dright Lore, Darashiko, deltadragon373 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's get back into the second event and see how it all wraps up!**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One: Youthful Earnestness

Tooru Hagakure was feeling just a little bit guilty. This wasn't necessarily a new feeling for her, since she had gotten up to her share of mischief in her life so far. After all, what was the point of being invisible if you didn't have the occasional bit of fun with it? What made this particular case stand out was that she hadn't actually done anything _wrong_.

No, it was just that the second event was so freaking _easy_.

Team Todoroki's defenses were ironclad. Yaomomo was producing handy capture tools such as ropes and netting, Koda was essentially blocking the entrance with his large frame and Tooru was just strolling around and casually tagging people while they tried to figure out how to get past the other two.

"Gotcha again, Sero."

"Damn it!" the dejected Tape user slouched back towards his base for what had to be the fourth time, "I thought I saw where you were that time! How do you keep doing that?!"

"I'm just that good~" in reality, it was because Yaomomo had produced a low-profile hunk of metal that was shaped roughly like the soles of someone's feet, which she had instructed Tooru to occasionally move around in order to throw off anyone who was trying to gauge her position. Naturally, Tooru made no effort whatsoever to conceal the position of the metal and was mostly tiptoeing around in order to disturb the grass as little as possible.

This alone, while it may have felt a little bit like cheating, wasn't enough to make Tooru feel guilty though. After all, what they were doing was perfectly allowed and really amounted to nothing more or less than awesome teamwork. Go Team Todoroki, rah rah rah.

No, the thing that was bothering her was that their titular captain was basically doing all of the real work by himself. He was a force of nature on the field, freezing anyone who got in his way (or at least making them change course) and Tooru couldn't help but feel that she was just sort of coasting along by riding his proverbial coattails. Granted, this was what he had _asked_ them all to do, but still. She wanted to do more to help him.

…She just couldn't figure out how.

 _Oh, there he is. He's got a flag too._

… _Why does he look upset?_

"Heya, Todo! Welcome back!"

"Yeah."

"You got a flag!"

"Yeah."

"…Did something happen?"

"Not really."

"You wanna talk about it?" at this, he paused, planted the flag in the ground a bit harder than was necessary, and turned his head slightly to glare at her through his right eye. The gray one.

He _was_ looking at her too. He knew exactly where she was just from her voice as she walked with him. Honestly, it gave Tooru chills which, she supposed, was appropriate.

"What I _want_ to do is get this into the base, throw up a barrier of ice no less than two feet thick in every direction and just get through the rest of this _goddamn event_. Okay?"

Wow. He was _pissed_. Tooru had gotten his hackles up before, but this was different. Shoto Todoroki was well and truly angry and Tooru didn't like the way it felt. He had been on edge since before the first event, even though he did his best to hide it. Tooru wouldn't have been surprised if he had managed to fool everyone else, at least mostly, but he couldn't fool her.

After all, out of everyone in their class, she had spent the most time learning to read him. Coupled with her already observant nature, he may as well have been holding a sign that said "I am in desperate need of a hug." This was why she had been trying so hard to lighten his mood and before he had left on his attack run, Tooru had _thought_ that she was making some headway. She had even gotten him to crack a _joke_ , however terrible it might have been.

Then he had gone off and something had happened to take the progress she had made, flip it completely around and run it through the wall behind the starting point.

 _I wish he would just open up to somebody. Talking about whatever it is might not_ fix _his problems, but it'll sure as hell be more productive than bottling them up like this._

Strike three when it came to the things currently making Tooru Hagakure feel guilty was a new and sudden addition.

Without getting too full of herself, she considered her and Todo to be friends. She might even go so far as to suggest that she was the only member of their class that he truly saw as a friend, even if he probably wouldn't say such a thing aloud.

It was the little things he did. He put up with her antics even though she knew for a fact that she got on his nerves sometimes. He showed little bits and pieces of what he was really thinking behind that icy wall that he presented to everyone else. Hell, just a moment ago that wall had had a chunk taken out of it and Todo had done his equivalent of grabbing her by the shoulders and shouting at her.

In spite of what he may have fooled most people into thinking, he was every bit as human as the rest of them. He had all the same emotions as everyone else, even if he kept a tight lid on them. The fact that he was letting those feelings show _now_ of all times only served as proof that something was very, very wrong.

And Tooru didn't know how to help him.

He closed his eyes for a moment and turned away from her, picking the flag up again.

"Sorry." _Help me._ "Come on, let's get inside." _Something's wrong._ "We can just wait for it to be over." _I'm in pain and I want it to stop._ "We should have enough points; don't worry." _I didn't mean to hurt you; I just don't know what to do._

Tooru didn't know what to do either, so she silently followed him back into their base along with Yaomomo and Koda. She watched as he planted their new flag next to their original one, sealed them off with a thick ice wall and then sat with his back against the wall facing the entrance, arms wrapped around his knees. It was such a closed-off position. He wasn't letting anyone in and he wasn't letting anything out.

It all felt incredibly sad to Tooru as she put her gym uniform back on.

A lot of good she was doing right then.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was experiencing a rather volatile mixture of emotions at the moment. On the one hand, Ashido had managed to lose their flag. On the other hand, from what she had described to him, it was less because of her own screw-up and more because of a mixture of Quirk matchup and devious planning on the part of the other team.

He sort of wished that he had thought of it first and had to respect whatever mastermind had concocted this particular scheme, however grudgingly. If it hadn't been for the fact that the invaders had been two members of 1-B, along with the fact that he knew that Deku's plan was to stay on the defensive, he would have suspected his old friend. As it was, he had absolutely no idea who could have orchestrated this attack, which meant that he had no idea where their flag actually _was_ , just that it was Team Monoma that had it.

The clock was ticking down, but he might still have a chance of getting it back. He just needed for Kirishima and Ojiro to get back and-

"Yo, Ashido! Bakubro! Check out what we got!" ah, there they were. They had a flag worth three-hundred and seventy-five points too. Combined with the three-hundred and thirty that Katsuki himself had acquired, that brought them to seven-hundred and five. If only they had their original flag, they'd be in a good spot…

"Yes, you might say it was a bit of a sticky situation." Ojiro was saying to Ashido, "I had no idea that there was a 1-B student that could spray adhesive everywhere. In some ways, I suppose he could be seen as your counterpart, Ashido-san."

"On that note, could you help me get this flag un-stuck from my hand?" Kirishima was trying in vain to pry the flag in question off of his hand, but had only succeeded in separating his thumb.

"While we're on the subject of unusual flag retrievals," Ojiro indicated Katsuki's flag, "why does yours have a chunk of the ground attached to it?"

"It was fused to the ground somehow, so I just had to dig it out using my explosions." Katsuki explained, "I thought about trying to blow that crap off of it, but that might damage the flag, so I just hauled it back here as-is."

After Ashido had successfully dissolved the adhesive keeping the flag glued to Kirishima's hand, Katsuki gave them the revised game plan.

"We're in a decent spot, but we could really use one more flag. I'm gonna go get ours back. You three stay here and guard what we've got." he glanced at the massive scoreboard, "I'm gonna go figure out who this "Monoma" bastard is and get our flag back."

It was at that point that Team Kaminari's point total shot up to one-thousand two-hundred and twenty-five.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Fumikage Tokoyami considered himself to be rather good at going with the flow when things started to get weird. After all, he was a birdman who had another birdman made of concentrated darkness living inside of him that fed off of his emotions and mental state, not to mention that said birdman was also sentient. Even in a world of Quirks, that was on the weirder side of things.

Still, having to of his team members return, one of them _bleeding from her ears_ , with the aid of an opposing team member _whose flag they had taken_ was certainly not something he had expected. That both of said teammates would prove to have lost their hearing (hopefully temporarily) and would proceed to get into a tickle fight before being retrieved by medical robots a couple of minutes later was even more bizarre.

His final teammate diving headfirst into their base, flag in hand and shouting "Tag him, tag him, for the love of GOD, _tag him_!" while being followed by some sort of raging beast that was bellowing at him to "Stand fast and uphold your honor, Sir Iida!" was pushing the limits of what even Fumikage was able to handle all at once.

" **And** _ **stay**_ **gone!"** Dark Shadow shouted at the now-retreating beast man who had seemingly snapped out of whatever rage had possessed him and reverted to a more human form.

"Thank you, Tokoyami-san, Dark Shadow-san." Iida gasped as smoke leaked from his calf engines, "I was nearing the end of my rope."

At Fumikage's prompting, Iida explained the situation. It turned out that he had purposefully antagonized the beast man, who was apparently named Shishida, in order to goad him into leaving his guard post. Iida's intent was to then dash past both him and the other guard, grab the flag and hightail it back, to their base.

"But he was faster than I had anticipated." Iida said as he began to lightly massage his oversized calf muscles, "I had no choice but to use Recipro Burst to force my way past him and then escape. He did not relent, however. He chased me all the way back here, even after I had reached our territory! He must have been taken by some form of madness!"

" **Maybe you just** _ **really**_ **pissed him off?"** Dark Shadow suggested.

"I don't know." Iida shook his head, "He seemed to be a composed gentleman at heart, but after his transformation it was as though he was gradually becoming more and more bestial in nature to match his new appearance. Honestly, if the situation had not been what it was, I rather feel as though we would have gotten along swimmingly. I believe I shall make it a point to apologize to him after this is over." he then turned his head from side to side, brow crinkling in confusion, "Forgive my lapse in attention, but where are Kaminari-san and Jiro-san?"

" **Do you wanna tell him, or should I?"**

"I'll do it. You keep watch."

" **Aye aye."**

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Mezo Shoji was in a pickle. It was pitch black, the entrance to his team's cave had collapsed and there was someone in the cave with him who was laughing and mocking him.

Less than a minute prior, things had been going well. Hatsume had proven to be extremely effective at hindering anyone who attempted to enter their territory by firing capture nets at them with a pair of specially-developed "babies" that could fire up to five times each before needing to be reloaded. The result was that there were several students littering their territory who were, simply put, S.O.L. They had not been tagged, but neither could they move, effectively removing them from the game unless someone helped them.

The occasional update from Midoriya and Uraraka revealed that their misdirection was working about as often as not. Their biggest success had come right away, with them managing to fool Todoroki of all people.

Then things had gone south. While Hatsume had been distracted by the latest wave of invaders who seemed to be more focused on retrieving their teammates by this point than actually taking their flag, a boy with pitch black skin and white hair had strolled into the cave as if he belonged there. Before Mezo could do more than register his sudden appearance and strangely laid-back behavior, he had caught a glimpse of another boy with pale skin and no discernible lips, rendering all of his teeth visible and giving him a somewhat skull-like appearance.

A glimpse was all he got because the other boy had placed a hand on the entrance, waved at him and then the entrance had seemed to melt and collapse in on itself.

" _Baby! What the heck just happened?!"_

"I don't know." Mezo respoinded, "That student with the exposed teeth just trapped his teammate in here with me for some reason."

"Oh, is that what you think?" a voice, presumably belonging to the boy who was in the cave with him, echoed throughout the darkness, "I think you'll find it's the other way around, Shoji-san. _You_ are trapped in here with _me_."

The voice was changing locations as the boy spoke, but not just as though he were circling Mezo. No, he seemed to have full three-dimensional freedom of movement somehow. Either that or he was really, really good at throwing his voice.

"What do you mean by that?" Mezo inquired, doing his best to keep the boy talking while he figured out what was going on.

His answer was the sudden sound of movement to his immediate left. Mezo reflexively grasped the flag with two of his hands and was immediately vindicated by the wrenching sensation of someone battling with him for possession of the ten-million points. The boy was not as physically powerful as Mezo and soon changed tactics, which involved Mezo being assaulted from multiple angles at a dizzying pace.

Right shin. Left shoulders. Solar plexus. Head. Lower back. Try as he might, Mezo could not discern a pattern to the rain of blows. He made a broad, swiping motion with his four free arms, but failed to strike anything.

"It's ironic, really." the voice resumed once the flurry of blows had subsided, "I'm in your base, but you're in _my_ world now. Black, black, black. Even with all of those extra eyes, I'm betting that you can't even see your fist in front of your face," a sudden impact to his face caused Mezo's head to jerk to the side, "much less mine."

"Hatsume-san, I require backup. Is there anything you can do to clear the blockage?"

" _I'm in a bit of a tight spot myself right now! Come on, babies! Momma needs you!"_

"Oh, I probably should've mentioned:" the self-proclaimed master of the cave cackled from directly above Mezo, "My teammate, Honenuki? He's a bit tough to deal with. It makes sense, since he was one of the students who got in through recommendations this year. With a Quirk as versatile as his, I'm honestly not surprised."

" _Shoji-kun, Hatsume-san, Deku-kun and I are heading over! Hang tight!"_

"No!" Shoji barked into his headset, "Stay where you are. It's probable that this "Honenuki" can capture you and Midoriya-san using whatever methods he used to incapacitate Hatsume-san."

" _But the flag-"_

"Do not worry. I will not allow them to take it."

" _Six minutes."_ Midoriya revealed, his tone grave, _"That's how long we have left."_

"Understood." Mezo solidified his grip on the flag and rose to his full height.

"You won't let us take it, huh?" a foot buried itself in Mezo's gut before a fist struck him in between his shoulder blades, causing him to stagger forward, "You'd better get comfortable then, Shoji-san, because if _we're_ not taking it, then _you're_ going to be taking it." cue a new barrage of strikes from seemingly impossible angles that had absolutely no sense of fluidity. They weren't overly powerful individually, but Mezo's inability to predict where they were coming from meant that he could not properly prepare himself to receiver the damage. As a result, most of the blows were clean.

"I guess we should get to know each other a bit. Name's Shihai Kuroiro. I have a tendency to stand out in crowds, which I'm sure you can relate to. Honenuki knows that feeling too. Apparently more than one kid's been scared by that winning smile of his."

Another rain of blows, which Mezo was able to cut short by swiping his arms through the air once more.

"Ooh, close one. Anyway, I'm wondering if that mask you're always wearing means that maybe you have more in common with Honenuki than one might think? Face-wise, I mean. You wouldn't be wearing it for no reason, that's for sure."

"Maybe I just like the look." Mezo replied with a dry tone, earning himself another strike across the face.

Those were _really_ starting to annoy him. To make things worse, he had no idea how much time had passed. Had it been two minutes? Three? Was he fortunate enough for it to have been four? He would have asked for an update but his assailant had managed to dislodge the communicator with what had felt like a kick to the head.

"Don't lie now, Shoji-san." Kuroiro chastised him, "What kind of healthy relationship is built on lies? Here I was hoping we could be friends."

"Your actions don't match your words."

"True." cue another round of pummeling for Mezo.

"You know," Kuroiro said with the audible cracking of some joint or other, "I've been very sporting about this so far. This is a friendly competition, after all; I have no desire to actually _hurt_ you, at least not too badly."

"I'm sensing a 'but.'"

" _But_ ," Kuroiro confirmed, "my team wants to advance, just like yours does. You've proven to be pretty stubborn, which is admirable in its own way, but we're on the clock here. Since I'm a nice guy, I'm giving you one final chance: drop the flag or the kid gloves are coming off. Fingers, joints, your eyes, your throat and more will be fair game." after a moment, Kuroiro added, "Or maybe I should start with that mask? Then we can see what you _really_ look like. After all, we're both monsters in our own way, aren't we? Give up the façade and join the club. Honenuki, Kamakiri and me would be happy to have you, I'm sure."

Monster. That was a word that Mezo had heard before. There were many possible frames of mind that could bring that label about: fear, disgust, ignorance, condemnation, even just a sore loser who couldn't understand that he wasn't as big as he had thought. Kuroiro obviously didn't feel any of these things in regards to the word; when he said it, it was in the matter-of-fact way that one might describe the sky to be blue or water to be wet.

"I see. So you truly see yourself as a monster? I suppose we do have certain things in common, at least from your perspective."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kuroiro's voice carried a definite note of surprise.

"Your threats to become more violent are not solely because of the time limit. You've accepted that there is simply no way that you are going to get me to give you this flag. In doing so, you acknowledge your own weakness and seek to overcome it with pinpoint tactics. There is nothing inherently wrong with this strategy, but it must really stick in your craw." Mezo bared his teeth beneath his mask, "After all, here we are in _your_ ideal conditions, with a task that _should_ be a simple matter for you and yet you are _powerless_ against me."

"Are you _trying_ to get me to hurt you?"

"Quite the opposite." Mezo refuted, "You've gotten tired of this? I have too. That's why I'm going to end it, here and now." Mezo took his hands off of the flag and cracked the fingers on all six of his hands simultaneously, "Come. Give everything you have in the pursuit of taking this flag. I will grind you into the dirt and show you who the _real_ monster is!"

"Fine." silence followed this one word. Mezo turned two of his arms into tentaclears, closing his eyes as he did so. In all honesty, he did not doubt for a single moment that Kuroiro would have made good on his threat to get more painful with his assaults. As willing as Mezo was to just take whatever beatings the denizen of darkness could dish out, his injuries were beginning to mount. A well-placed shot to the throat, knees or groin carried with them the strong possibility of loosening his grip enough for Kuroiro to take the flag, at which point Honenuki had no doubt devised an escape plan.

However, his opponent was becoming desperate. More than half of the allotted time must have passed by then and from what he was suggesting, Team Honenuki did not have enough points to reliably pass the second event.

 _His Quirk has something to do with the darkness, that much is clear. If this is the case…_

Noise! Movement!

… _then it only makes sense that he would stage his final assault from where the darkness is densest!_

Mezo whirled about, ripping the flag out of the ground with his right arms as he made a grab with his left ones and felt them close on what must have been Kuroiro's uniform.

"What?!"

"You have varied your attack patterns up until now," Mezo spun around, taking a single, large step towards where he knew the entrance of the cave to be, "but when people are backed into a corner, they always go with the plan that has the greatest chance of success! HAH!"

 ***KROOM***

With a single mighty heave, Mezo hurled the disoriented Kuroiro completely through the layer of earth concealing the entrance, which turned out to be thinner and softer than everywhere else. Sunlight burst through the opening, illuminating the interior of the cave once more.

"Kuroiro! What the hell?!" Honenuki was waiting outside and his lipless mouth was currently agape.

"Your plan has failed." Mezo informed him, "Leave now."

Honenuki, who had dropped to one knee, presumably to check the status of Kuroiro, narrowed his eyes at Mezo, who only realized that something was wrong a half-second before he started sinking into the ground as though it was quicksand.

"Failed? Well, maybe that one did, but so what?" Honenuki chuckled, "The most important thing is to be flexible in your approach, you know?"

"I couldn't agree more." Midoriya suddenly fell from the sky, slapping Honenuki on the back as he did so before landing on all-fours, "Tag."

"Shoji-kun! Catch me please!" reacting on instinct, Shoji held out his arms and caught Uraraka as she fell from where she and Midoriya had clearly been just a moment earlier.

"Heh. Well-played." Honenuki admitted as he helped a groaning Kuroiro to his feet, "Obviously I'm bummed, but at least we gave it our all."

"Why are you making it sound as though it is already over?" Mezo inquired.

"Well, you see…" Midoriya began before being interrupted by the blaring of a horn.

" _TIME! The second event of the U.A. Sports Festival has hereby come to a close!"_

"…that's why."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya turned to scan the scoreboard, eager to see the final results of the competition. He knew that his team had gotten first place, but it still filled him with joy and relief to know that they had made it.

" _In first place, keeping possession of the ten-million four-hundred points through out the entire duration of the competition, we have TEAM MIDORIYA!"_

Present Mic confirmed what the scoreboard was already saying, much to the delight of the audience, who exploded into applause.

Now, where was Kacchan's team?

" _In second place, with a whopping one-thousand two-hundred and twenty-five points, TEAM KAMINARI! Everybody give them a round of applause and here's hoping that the two members who were taken to the infirmary will be back with us shortly!"_

Right. Izuku had heard the announcement. He was honestly worried about Kaminari and Jiro, since they were the only ones who had been hurt badly enough to warrant a trip to the infirmary in the middle of the event.

Where was Kacchan's team though? Every time he started to scan the board, he was cut off by some thought or other and had to start over.

" _In third place, with a commanding one-thousand one-hundred and forty points, we have TEAM MONOMA! They managed to recover from their early loss of points and then some! Give it up!"_

Monoma? Right, that was the team from 1-B. Izuku had caught a glimpse of them during his and Ochako's circuit around the field.

Still, to have Kacchan stuck in fourth place, wow. He must have been pretty irritated by that. Oh well, at least they made it into the top sixteen-

" _In fourth place, with a solid eight-hundred and five points, TEAM TODOROKI! They wreaked havoc on the battlefield, secured their position and then put their base on lockdown until it was time to move on! That's what I call strategy!"_

Wait…

What?

But that meant…

"No way…"

" _And in fifth place with seven-hundred and five points, TEAM BAKUGO! They were so CLOSE! Let's give them a nice round of applause along with all of the teams who wound up with zero points!"_

Kacchan…didn't make it?

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Denki Kaminari was currently dealing with the absolute worst itch that he had ever felt in his life. He couldn't even scratch it, since it was coming from _inside his head_.

"Oh, stop fidgeting!" Recovery Girl admonished him as she handed him a hard candy, "Just suck on that and by the time it's gone you'll be all done. You're lucky that there was a wall between you and that noise otherwise it might not have been so simple to heal. Not like this poor girl."

That stopped Denki dead in his proverbial tracks.

"You aren't saying that…well…" he was cut off by a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Don't be silly. She'll be fine. Granted, if this was left to heal on its own then she would likely have some degree of hearing loss, but with my help she'll recover. It will take some time though."

Denki got off of the bed that Recovery Girl had sat him down on and walked over to Jiro, who was lying on the bed next to his with a calm expression on her face.

"Hey." she said as Recovery Girl started working on her.

"Hey, Denki replied, giving a small wave to show that he had heard her."

"Geez, dude, who died?" she raised her arm and indicated his face.

"How can you be so casual about this?" he took one of the cotton balls that Recovery Girl was using to clean out her ears and showed it to her. There was blood on it.

"Don't touch that!" Recovery Girl snatched the cotton ball from his hand and threw it in the medical waste bin that was nearby, "Seriously, don't you know anything about sanitation? You make sure to wash your hands!"

Denki did as he was instructed and then returned to see Jiro, ears now free of blood and emanating the subtle glow that told him that Recovery Girl's Quirk was hard at work, giving him an amused smile.

"You don't have to freak out so much." she reassured him, "It's not the first time I've had my eardrums blown out, you know? Heck, it's not even the worst. I remember when I had the bright idea to plug my jacks into a pair of my dad's woofers, crank the volume and hit the bass." she grimaced at the memory, "Not one of my best moments."

"I should think not!" Recovery Girl grumbled her disapproval as she started applying some bandages and cotton to Jiro's ears, making sure that her jacks were blocked as well, "I'd much prefer it if you stayed in here for the remainder of the festival, but I know that unless I strap you to the bed there's precious little chance of that happening. A large crowd isn't where you want to be when recovering from an ear injury like this, but with this much to muffle the sounds you should be alright."

The little old lady gave Denki a stern look.

"Did you catch all of that, young man?"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"You make sure she doesn't take it off, you hear?"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"I'll expect her back here before class on Friday for her follow-up. She can take off the bandages when she gets home tonight if she must, but no loud noises! She likely won't regain all of her hearing until our follow-up appointment, so tell her not to feel alarmed if everything sounds muffled for a couple of days."

"Yes, Ma'am! Um, if I can ask, why Friday?"

"You have the next two days off from classes. Didn't you know that?"

Now that she mentioned it, Denki vaguely remembered something like that. He nodded and Recovery Girl went back to her temporary office to watch the broadcast of the festival until she was needed again.

"So…" Jiro said, getting Denki's attention, "I guess I won't be able to move on to the third event, huh?"

Denki shook his head, lips pressed together.

"Damn." her expression screwed up for a moment and she reached for her bandages, "Itches like a-"

Denki grabbed her wrist gently, but firmly, and shook his head again.

"Right. No touching."

He nodded, releasing her wrist and retracting his hand before she caught his sleeve, stopping him.

"You need to snap out of it, alright? It sucks that this happened, but you can't let that stop you from giving it your all out there. You're Class 1-A's front man, after all."

Denki blinked, wondering if the air in the infirmary was a bit dry from the burning sensation in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." he knew that she couldn't hear him, but he didn't care, "I'm sorry that my plan got you hurt. I'm sorry that you won't be able to keep going." he had her hand clasped between both of his as his shoulders shook, "I'm sorry that I'm so bad at this. I'm sorry that you always have to pull my ass out of the fire." he gritted his teeth, refusing to break down, "First Midoriya and now you! Why can't I stop shit like this from happening?! _I'm Class President goddamn it_!" he was hunched over, clasped hands making him look like a man absorbed in a desperate prayer, "I was out of it when Midoriya got hurt but…when I saw you…when I saw…" as he trailed off, he felt a hand running along his hair in slow, soothing motions.

"You need to get a grip, boss man," Jiro said, voice pitched perhaps a bit differently than usual, "otherwise you're gonna get me started too and between the two of us we might not stop in time." Denki looked up to see unshed tears in those dark purple, almost-black eyes, "Seriously, I'm the one who should be getting all worked up here. I'm the one who might not get an internship because of how quickly I got taken out. I'm the one who gets to be deaf for a couple days. I'm the one who should be worried and hurt and scared, but here you are upstaging me. What kind of sense does that make, huh?"

Denki pulled Jiro to him and squeezed her in his arms.

"I know you can't hear me but I promise I won't lose. Not until I make it to the top. And when they ask me to make some sort of comment, I'll say that I'd never have made it that far without you. They'll have no choice but to recognize you then. My spotlight will be big enough that it'll shine on you too!"

Jiro froze up for a moment before sighing and resting her head on his shoulder.

"You get _one_ , Denki. You got that? _One_."

"…Glad we had this talk."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you just said."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

There was a break between the end of the second event and the third being announced while the field was cleaned up a bit. In the meantime, everyone was eating lunch. Well, everyone except for Tooru. She had seen Todo break off from the crowd at his first opportunity and had decided to follow him. Much to her surprise, she heard him before she saw him and he wasn't alone. Midoriya was with him.

"Not only did you fool me, you won first place in the second event without ever using your Quirk, didn't you?"

"Well, I used it towards the end to help break my fall."

"You know what I mean."

"I…no. No I didn't really use it."

"My team made it to the final event with me only using half of my power, but your team made it with you using even less than that, huh? I can see that I was right to challenge you. No…perhaps it would be more accurate to say that you're the _only_ one that I could have challenged."

"Todoroki-san, what are you talking about?"

Yes. Please. For the love of _god_ someone explain what was happening!

"You're an observant guy, Midoriya. You've obviously noticed by now that I don't use my left side."

It wasn't a question and from the lack of a verbal response, Tooru guessed that Midoriya had only nodded.

"You know who Endeavor is, right? The number two Hero?"

"O-of course I know him! He's been the number two for a long time now! Aside from All Might, he's the strongest in Japan! In fact, if you're looking at the total number of cases closed, he actually _surpasses_ All Might!"

"He's my dad."

It took nearly all of Tooru's self-control not to say something to the effect of "WHAT?!"

"Since you're in the know about a lot of Hero-related stuff, you probably also know about the one-sided rivalry between him and All Might. That makes it even more important that I beat you today."

"So, you want to beat me for your dad?"

"No. I want to beat you _in spite of_ my dad."

"You've lost me."

"Endeavor made a name for himself by giving his all into his career as a Pro Hero. He shot up the ranks like a rocket but he could never compare to All Might. No matter what he did, All Might was an immovable pillar to him. So, once he accepted that he couldn't surpass him on his own, he decided to take a different route."

Something in Todo's tone told Tooru that she wasn't going to like what came next. Even so, she didn't move.

"Have you heard of Quirk Marriages? I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't, since they're not as much of a problem as they used to be."

Another nonverbal response from Midoriya.

"The concept of choosing a mate based on the idea of creating enhanced versions of one's own Quirk…it sounds simple enough on paper, but the reality was more like forced arranged marriages. As a man with both power and prestige, Endeavor found it easy to get on good terms with my mother's family and get ahold of her Quirk via marriage. His idea was that if _he_ couldn't surpass All Might, then he'd just have a batch of super-babies that would do it _for_ him. Eventually, this resulted in me."

Tooru heard him sigh before he continued.

"The hell of it is, there were more than a few Quirk Marriages that still ended up happy in the end. My mother wasn't one of those, though. I'm the youngest kid, so this was several years in the making before I came along, but in most of my memories of her, my mom is crying. She couldn't take looking at my left side, you see. It reminded her too much of _him_. So, she poured boiling water on me one night when I walked in on her making tea."

This…this couldn't be right, could it? It was too much.

"Because he focused all of his time and energy on furthering his Hero career, my mother was neglected and abused until she just couldn't take it anymore. Honestly, I can't blame her for what she did. That's why I'm going to take you down, Midoriya. I'll take the number one Hero's golden boy, one who uses _fire_ no less, and prove to my shitty old man that I can be the best. _Without_ relying on his thrice-damned power."

The anger was back, but it was different. It was _worse_. Before he had flared up like an autumn fire, but this…this was a slow, _deep_ burning. Like glowing coals that persisted all throughout a winter blizzard.

It was that feeling, more than anything, that convinced Tooru that he was telling the truth. You just couldn't fake such a…such a _horrible_ anger. It was the kind of thing that could eat a person alive from the inside out.

Tooru was scared. Not _of_ Todo, but _for_ him.

"I don't know what your relationship with All Might is and frankly, it doesn't really matter. No matter what you are, I'm going to take full advantage of your position. Sorry in advance."

"Todoroki-san." the sound of Todo's footsteps stopped and Tooru, against her better judgement, peeked around the corner, doing her best to keep her shoulder out of view. Midoriya's back was to her and Todo had half-turned to look at him properly.

"I…I can't claim to understand what you've been through. I can't just say something like 'I know how you feel' or 'I can imagine what that's like.' So, instead, I'm just going to ask you a question."

Todo gave a short nod, permitting the question.

"Did you mean what you said before the first event? About the second reason why you think that I'm a better Hero than you?"

"Yes."

"Then don't make the same mistake twice. If you want to apologize to me for what happened back then, even though I still don't blame you, then you need to take whatever mental block you have on your left side and throw it away. Otherwise, all you'll prove to me is that you haven't changed."

Todo was dumbstruck as Midoriya turned around and walked down the hall towards where Tooru was. His expression was intense and…were his eyes orange? She blinked and they were back to their usual green. Must have imagined it. Midoriya turned down the opposite hall from where Tooru was and didn't notice her. After he had gone, Todo slumped against a wall and slid to the floor.

"…It's not that simple…" she could just barely make out his words. He slammed his fist against the nearby wall, causing a smacking sound to echo through the mostly-empty space, "Damn it! It's not that _simple_! Don't you…don't you think I…"

The way his voice cracked at the end. The way that his story showed everything she thought she knew about Shoto Todoroki in a new light. The way that it was all he could do to just barely keep his famed composure.

It was too much for Tooru to take. So, while he beat his fist against the wall in a steady rhythm, she shed the invisible tears that he wouldn't.

Because right then, _someone_ needed to.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was a mixture of relieved and bummed out. He was relieved because, due to Kaminari and Jiro's explanation of her injuries, she had to withdraw from the third event, which mean that Kacchan could compete. Bummed out because, well, she had done her part to earn a spot in the final event and she couldn't participate now.

The third event, as it turned out, was a series of one-on-one matches organized into a tournament. It wasn't always a tournament per-se, but there was always some form of direct one-on-one competition and the years with tournaments always boasted the highest ratings.

"Alright," Midnight was back on her pedestal and was holding a box that was labeled "Lots," "I'm sure that everyone is super-eager to hear how this is going to work, so listen up! We're going to have you all pick a number from this box and that will decide the matchups! There will, as you have all heard, be some extra recreational activities before the third round to give us time to set everything up. It's up to the sixteen finalists to decide whether they want to participate or conserve their energy. So, we'll work our way down the ladder, starting with the team that placed first and moving on down until all sixteen numbers have been taken. Okay?"

"Um, ***cough*** excuse me?" a raspy voice accompanied by a raised hand drew everyone's attention to the student from Team Monoma that had a speech bubble where his head should have been.

"Fukidashi, save your voice. Are you sure about this?" Monoma asked, receiving a nod in return, "Alright then."

"Team Monoma, what is it that you would like to say?" Midnight prompted.

"Manga Fukidashi overused his Quirk while defending our base last round." Monoma explained, "He maintains that in his present condition, he would not be able to provide the level of competition that the final event deserves. As such, he requests that you allow him to withdraw and allow a member of the fifth-place team to take his place. He also wishes everyone else good luck."

 _Say what you will about this guy, but he knows how to work the crowd._

Indeed, the audience was giving Fukidashi polite applause and Midnight was panting slightly.

Another, much larger hand was raised. This time it was Koda from Team Todoroki.

"Koda-kun wants to withdraw too." Hagakure said on the quiet boy's behalf, "He doesn't feel like he contributed enough to warrant a spot here and wants his place to go to someone who actually earned it. I, for one…agree. Tooru Hagakure also wishes to withdraw."

"What?" it was Todoroki who reacted first to this information, staring at Hagakure with a look of mingled surprise and confusion.

"Let's face the facts, Todo: I didn't earn my place here. I used tools that Yaomomo produced and basically walked around and tagged people. Compared to someone like you or her, who was really giving it their all and making a difference, I…" she paused, as though she were cutting herself off, "I didn't do enough to earn my place and besides, I'm not cut out for a tournament like this. Look at everyone else, then look at me. Ochako-chan would send me flying as soon as I got close enough to land a hit. Shoji would catch me before I could get away from him. You would just freeze the whole stage and catch me in it. Midoriya would figure _something_ out. Yaomomo-chan would make an ink bomb or something. Kaminari would fry me. Are you getting the picture, here?"

She walked to Todoroki and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not cut out for something like this. I'm sorry that-" she cut herself off again, "I'm sorry that you worked so hard just for two of us to bail at the last moment. I'll be cheering for you, okay?"

"You three…this…" Midnight appeared to be short-circuiting, "SUCH YOUTHFUL EARNESTNESS! I feel like my blood is _boiling_ in my veins! Innocent greenhorns like you really do get _all_ of my love! I will allow these withdrawals!"

It was in this way that the entirety of Team Bakugo was able to participate in the tournament in spite of the fact that they placed fifth.

It was received with…mixed results.

"Fate! This is fate at work!"

"Bakubro! Ain't this awesome?!"

"I admit I am pleased at the opportunity."

"I…I want it, but I don't, but I do…"

By "mixed," Izuku really meant to say that Kacchan's teammates eagerly accepted, with only him showing any sign of reluctance.

"Kacchan, just go with it." he advised, "After all, you can't be number one if you don't participate, right?"

His friend was forced to admit the truth of this statement.

"Alright! Now, let's get this show on the road! Line up everybody!"

Team Midoriya was first. Izuku drew the number nine, Ochako drew the number one, Shoji drew the number three and Hatsume drew the number fifteen.

 _Okay, at least none of us are fighting each other right away. That's good, right?_

Next was Team Kaminari minus Jiro. Kaminari drew the number eight, Iida drew the number sixteen and Tokoyami drew the number two.

" _The first and last matchups have been decided! Ochako Uraraka vs. Fumikage Tokoyami is the first match of round one! Mei Hatsume vs. Tenya Iida is the last!"_

Well, talk about throwing a stone into stagnant waters. Each of those matchups sounded interesting. Izuku would have to start working on a game plan for Ochako. Tokoyami was a hell of an opponent to get right off the bat.

Third was Team Monoma minus Fukidashi. Monoma kicked things off right away by drawing the number ten while Tetsutetsu drew the number six and Shinso drew the number seven.

" _Things are starting to fall into place, Listeners! The fourth match of round one is Hitoshi Shinso vs. Denki Kaminari! The fifth match is Izuku Midoriya vs. Neito Monoma!"_

Well, that was…troubling. Izuku had no idea what either Shinso or Monoma could do apart from the fact that Monoma had apparently been the one to blow out Jiro's eardrums. He knew that Kacchan had been rebuffed from Team Monoma's base a few times towards the end of the event, but he hadn't had time to really talk to him about it thanks to his discussion with Todoroki and subsequent rush to eat lunch.

Team Todoroki, consisting of only Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, was next. Todoroki drew the number eleven while Yaoyorozu drew the number fourteen.

 _Great. So, if I beat Monoma then there's a chance that I'll have Todoroki to deal with after that. Well, better sooner than later, I guess._

Finally, there was Team Bakugo. Kacchan drew the number thirteen, Kirishima drew the number five, Ashido drew the number four and Ojiro gulped before he drew the final remaining number: twelve.

" _And there you have it, Listeners! The second match of round one is Mezo Shoji vs. Mina Ashido! The third match is Eijiro Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu! The sixth match is Shoto Todoroki vs. Mashirao Ojiro! Finally, the seventh match is Katsuki Bakugo vs. Momo Yaoyorozu! How wonderful! How exciting! What could happen? ANYTHING! But first, let's all have a bit of fun, shall we?_

* * *

Omake: Jimmy Samoa

Everybody has things from their past that they're not proud of. Pro Heroes are no exception. If anything, they have to be _more_ careful than everyone else since the public eye is constantly upon them. Say, you look like the type who's interested in Heroes. How about a deal? Sit down and buy me a drink and I'll tell you the story of one such incident involving none other than All Might himself!

How about it?

…

* **slurp** *

Mmm…that's good stuff. Alright, you've held up your end of the bargain, so sit back and relax as I tell you about the time All Might made a boo-boo on live network television.

There was once a man named Jimmy Samoa Who Fucked A Jerboa And Found To His Surprise That He Liked It. Yes, that was his actual name. No, I am not kidding.

Anyway, old Jimmy was a small-time Villain in America who ended up having a big-time impact on society, at least during that particular week. As you may or may not know, All Might spent some of his early years fighting crime in the good old U.S. of A. Jimmy was one of the Villains that he brought low during his time there and, as I already said, he caused All Might to screw up something fierce.

You see, there was a lot of debate as to what Jimmy's Quirk actually _was_. The people who figured it out reportedly did so at some nondescript bar one night as they were drinking brewskis and swapping stories. Let's imagine for a moment how that conversation might have played out.

 _"So, y'all heard about that Villain what's been runnin' around lately?"_

 _"This is the city, Hank. Place is lousy with Villains. You're gonna have to be more specific."_

 _"Nah, see, there's a rumor going around about what happens if you say his name."_

 _"Either quit being a pussy or shut up talking about random-ass Villains."_

 _"Fine, fine. His name's Jimmy Samoa Who Fucked A Jerboa And Found To His Surprise That He Liked It."_

 ** _*PPBBBTT*_**

 _"God damnit, Hank! You made me spit out my beer! Why'd you have to go and say all that other nonsense at the end of his name?!"_

 _"That's what happens when you say his name, man. Go on. Try and just say his name."_

 _"Jimmy Samoa Who Fucked A Jerboa And Found To His Surprise That He Liked It. FUCK!"_

 _"Eh? You see? You get it?"_

 _"The fuck did you do to me, Hank? That shit's not funny!"_

 _"I didn't do nothin'! That's just how it is, man!"_

 _"Would you two kindly take it down a notch? You're disturbing the other customers."_

 _"Barkeep! This is serious! We think we figured out this feller's Quirk! You know, that one guy!"_

 _"Oh, you mean Jimmy Samoa Who Fucked A Jerboa And Found To His Surprise That He Liked It? My word!"_

 _"Shit, Hank, you got the barkeep in on it now too! You need to stop spreading that shit around!"_

It so happens that the rumors of Jimmy did _not_ stop spreading and he was soon found to be the root cause of several public disturbances and local parents were blaming him for the sudden upsurge in their children's cursing, since there was no way to say only part of his name.

All Might's managers saw this as a great way for him to get some good publicity, so he hunted down and captured poor old Jimmy. When he was interviewed, he had lots of good things to say.

 _"Yes, dear citizens! Never fear! We have captured this Villain and his spree of public indecency and corruption of the tongues of your children ends today! Upon researching his Quirk, we found that it only works with the name that he has tattooed across his left buttock, so we shall be taking him to a local specialist to have said tattoo altered into something more family-friendly."_

 _"And All Might, for those around the country who are just now learning of this atrocity, could you tell us all what the name of this dastardly Villain is?"_

 _"Most certainly! It is Jimmy Samoa Who Fucked A Jerboa And Found To His Surprise That He Liked It!"_

 _"Cut the feed, CUT THE FEED!"_

And that, my friend, is the story of the time All Might said "fuck" on live network television.

Hmm? My name?

You can call me "Jimmy."

* * *

 **I thought of the Jimmy Samoa joke earlier this week and just had to flesh it out into an omake. I hope you all enjoyed that. We got to see some more of 1-B in this chapter, Honenuki and Kuroiro aka Vantablack (I love that as a Hero name) in particular. I was originally planning on doing some more with 1-B but it just ended up feeling extraneous so I narrowed it down to the main scenes. It also doesn't help that some of their Quirks still haven't been revealed and I don't want to just make shit up. We WILL see more of them though, don't worry.  
**

 **The long-awaited tournament bracket. I promise that I rolled the dice and kept everything 100% random with the only exception that I had to move Katsuki over a bracket since he was slated to potentially get in the way of the Todoroki/Deku fight. There was nobody in said bracket at the time, so I didn't feel TOO guilty about this. I swear that is the only change I made. Everything else just kind of...happened.**

 **Here's the tournament bracket to make predictions simpler:**

 **Round One: Uraraka vs. Tokoyami - Shoji vs. Ashido - Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu - Shinso vs. Kaminari - Midoriya vs. Monoma - Todoroki vs. Ojiro - Bakugo vs. Yaoyorozu - Hatsume vs. Iida**

 **Round Two: Winner 1-1 vs. Winner 1-2 - Winner 1-3 vs. Winner 1-4 - Winner 1-5 vs. Winner 1-6 - Winner 1-7 vs. Winner 1-8**

 **Semifinals: Winner 2-1 vs. Winner 2-2 - Winner 2-3 vs. Winner 2-4 Losers of each match will share Third Place.**

 **Finals: Winner 3-1 vs. Winner 3-2 Loser gets Second Place, Winner gets First Place.**

 **Yes, I rolled Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu, Shinso vs. Kaminari, Midoriya vs. Monoma and Hatsume vs. Iida by sheer luck. No, I do not regret a single thing. You folks who have been itching for a Deku vs. Monoma fight are going to get EXACTLY what you've been asking for. Let me say only this: You all are in for a surprise. When I plotted out these fights, I legit had to do a double-take and go "Is this right? This can't be right. How did this happen?"**

 **The Random Number God works in mysterious ways. Praise be unto him.**

 **Now, just to re-state the rules for our little contest for those who may have missed them last time: I am challenging you all to guess the final results of the tournament. We need a First Place, a Second Place and TWO Third Places. Anyone who gets it right or, failing that, the one who comes the CLOSEST to getting it right (because I'm not going to have a reward and then not give it to anybody) will be allowed to command me to write an omake based on any prompt they so desire.**

 **And I do mean ANY prompt. No matter how violent, raunchy or cracktastic. This fic has an M rating and I am not afraid to use it. Of course, I can't vouch for the _quality_ of how the omake will turn out, but I promise to do my best.**

 **Participants may submit their guesses in review form and are allowed to change their guesses ONCE PER CHAPTER until the fights actually begin, which will be either next chapter or the chapter after that, depending on how things go. Probably next chapter though. Hopefully. I think. Maybe.**

 **Next time: We see what people are up to during the break and most likely get to some fights!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	32. Chapter 32: Head Case

**Before we get on with this, let me give you two useful pieces of information: First, we broke the 700 review mark and this is awesome. Second, the contest for guessing the final rankings of the Sports Festival is OVER as of 11/25/19. If your name isn't in the response for people who participated in the contest right below this, then either I was not aware you were participating or you submitted your guess too late. Feel free to update your predictions as things progress, because I DO love watching you guys think about things like this, just be aware that they will not count for the contest.  
**

 **Review time:**

 **jaciro500(from last chapter), HankFLamion18, the_narr_master, Slayer76, lorenzde, sneak13579, Engineer of Epicness, LordXG3, ILiekFishes, DJWhaleTrain, avidreaded, CaedmonCousland, Nightvale2406, Guest, Profimacher2, The 0bservanc3 : THE CONTEST! This is going to be a long note and I apologize in advance for that.  
**

 **SO. First and foremost, thank you to these 16 people for participating (how appropriate is it that we have a 16-man tournament and 16 people making predictions about it?). Secondly, the majority of you have left detailed (sometimes VERY detailed) reviews describing why you think your predicted outcome is plausible. I honestly regret that I cannot respond to each of you individually about these due to A) the sheer prohibitive length that these responses would add up to and B) the fact that it would be Spoiler Central if I were to do so.**

 **On the subject of spoilers, it is ALSO for this reason that I cannot declare the winner just yet. Rest assured that, although nobody made a 100% accurate prediction, we do indeed have a winner. I will explain how I decided this in the post-chapter A/N. After all was said and done though, we had three people with identical point totals, but there was ONE who came so incredibly close to guessing how things were going to turn out that they were the undisputed victor.**

 **I honestly had a blast running this little contest and if I can think of an excuse to do another one in the future then I will.**

 **the_narr_master, Slayer76 : When you really think about it, Denki always had the potential to be a Shonen Protagonist. All I did was help him to realize that potential. I have unleashed the beast and he will gradually take over the story with his plot armor, speeches about friendship and increasingly implausible harem comprised of every named female character he has ever interacted with. No, not really.  
**

 **Darashiko, Elizabeth0058, LordXG3, D3lph0xL0v3r, DJWhaleTrain : I think it's awesome that you guys enjoyed something I wrote just for funzies and this has solidified my decision to write more omakes in the future. Not every chapter, but sometimes. I've got a few ideas already. For those who are curious, I came up with the rhyme about Jimmy Samoa, thought "hey, what if this was that guy's Quirk?" and then ended up writing a short story about it.**

 **bhennen : I would love to read your fic. Let me know when you release it. Same goes for anyone else who sees this, especially if you were inspired by Torchbearer in some way.**

 **Markus-Antonius:** **I do have a plan for the Neito vs Izuku match (obviously, since I've got the whole tournament figured out already), but I can't explain it because spoilers. Rest assured that I did give it some thought and it actually serves an important plot point for Izuku.**

 **uchihaNaruto** **: Izuku's eyes have indeed changed color several times at this point. They change color whenever he taps into his flames via One For All. It is only recently that they have started to change for other reasons which...spoilers. Though these other times they haven't been quite as intense. Think dull embers as opposed to blazing coals.  
**

 **CodeTalker69 : I have not read that chapter yet, but will do so sometime today. Glad that we're finally getting more info on 1-B's Quirks, since that's the main thing preventing me from utilizing some of them. As for RWBY, I saw the first 4 episodes of Volume 6 yesterday and I'm a bit mixed on it. It's neat to learn the lore and see how they're making callbacks to some earlier things in doing so, which implies that they've planned everything from the start. I'm not the biggest fan of the tonal shift, but it is justified in-story. Of course, there's also the common complaint that the action scenes have lowered in quality since the passing of Monty Oum, which I share.**

 **Tism-Schism : Thank you kindly for the offer, though honestly even if I was being paid to do this I'd be hesitant to do more than a chapter a week. I'd be afraid of burning out plus this way gives me more time to mull things over before I put proverbial pen to paper. If at some point for some reason I ended up with funding via a or something, more than likely it would be used to fund multiple simultaneous stories instead of accelerating the production of just one. That way I could explore multiple avenues but still have a week to think about each individually. Note that I am not at this point planning on doing such a thing, I'm just speaking hypothetically.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Hopefully this chapter flags everyone properly. Let me know if it doesn't. I don't wanna bug the staff if I don't have to, but if it's a repeated issue then I will.**

 **I'm glad that the depth of Todoroki's emotions came across here. I really wanted to drive it home. Obviously, when it comes to Tooru reading into the meaning behind Todoroki's words, it's her personal interpretation. I won't say it's 100% accurate, but there IS something to it. As for whether Todo considers her a friend or not, well, I'd say that the fact that he opened up to her, no matter how little, instead of just ignoring her or blowing her off says something. I can't honestly see him going off on anyone else in class like that. I maintain that he explained his situation to Izuku out of a sense of obligation rather than because he feels particularly close to him, especially at this point.**

 **Mei wasn't calling Mezo "Baby," that was just her verbal tic at work. Did I make a Rorschach reference? If I did then it was on accident. Please explain it to me so I can understand my own apparent brilliance XD I do think that Kuroiro's eyes are swallowed when he is moving. I'm not sure about Honenuki's lack of lips. It could be a mutation similar to Koda's head. For clarification, Kuroiro wasn't threatening to gouge out Mezo's eyes, just poke 'em or something. He wouldn't go that far. Mezo grabbing Kuroiro and subsequently throwing him through a wall does indeed count as a tag, yes.**

 **Let me clarify that Kyoka indeed could not hear any of what Denki was saying, be it via normal means, vibration, or lip-reading. She froze up because she's a tsundere and got hugged unexpectedly. I am pleased with the wham line that my version of Izuku delivered to Todoroki. I re-wrote that one a couple of times to get it just right. I will say that you are correct about the eye changing being significant, but there have not been any other colors displayed besides orange and his normal green, nor will there be. What Monoma did will be explained in this chapter.  
**

 **Naruffoku : Welcome aboard! Your feedback is useful and appreciated, though there is one point that I disagree with. I believe that saying that "Heroes never kill" is naive and unrealistic. That would be like saying that policemen never kill. Certainly, they try to avoid it, but if someone comes at you with lethal intent then all bets are off. This concept is known as "Justifiable Homicide" and, in simple terms, states that homicide is justified when it prevents "greater harm to innocents." Examples of this would be to prevent rape, armed robbery, manslaughter, murder, or other serious crimes, which Heroes no doubt often encounter. I would argue that Duty to Retreat is null and void in these circumstances, since Heroes are supposed to be actively fighting crime. Obviously, this is based on U.S. law, since I don't know the first thing about Japanese law and do not feel inclined to go THAT deep into the rabbit hole.**

 **In short, Heroes and other government-sponsored protectors of the peace avoid killing whenever possible, but the reality is that sometimes it cannot be avoided without further endangering themselves or innocents and there are laws in place to deal with that. As for strength trumping everything else, I could go on about how you are completely failing to understand the core aspects of actual combat, but I'll settle for making a single point: While someone of sufficient power could do a lot of damage with a single hit, they'll have a hell of a time _landing_ that hit without speed and without proper technique they're not only more likely to hurt _themselves_ than their opponent, but the effectiveness of their strike will be _severely_ limited.  
**

 **tyry95 : Punching something fifty times is by no means the same as punching something once with fifty times the power. You could, for instance, punch a sandbag fifty times and not really do anything to it. Punch it once with fifty times as much power (assuming your body could handle the impact) and you're likely to need a new sandbag.**

 **Mrguy22594, RoyalLegiana, ShiningStar32, Jack Inqu, Hyped and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy.  
**

 **Now, I've been saying for a while that there is more to my Monoma than canon. Time to prove it.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two: Head Case

" _Huh? What do you mean? He can't do anything on his own?"_

" _Does that mean he's Quirkless?"_

" _No, he's even_ worse _than Quirkless! He's a parasite!"_

" _Ew, you mean like a leech or something?"_

" _At least all a leech does is take a little blood;_ he _takes the thing that makes you special! He's a_ million _times worse!"_

" _Is that gonna be your Villain name? 'Leech?' It fits someone like you."_

Memory lane, memory lane. Equal parts triumph and shame.

At least for some people.

Neito Monoma was not one of those people. Honestly, most of his triumphs had happened in the most recent year of his life.

He had always been a smart boy. He had learned very quickly that words alone wouldn't be enough to change anyone's mind about him. After all, they would always have that damned refrain to fall back on:

" _Prove it."_

" _I…I can't…"_

" _See? I told you he was a liar. He's the scheming type. You can't ever trust what they say because they're always looking for a chance to take advantage of you."_

He couldn't even offer a good-faith handshake because the other kids would think he was trying to steal their Quirks.

Even though he had explained numerous times that all Copy did was…copy.

" _He probably gave it that name on purpose to make it seem less threatening."_

Yeah. He _had_ given it that name on purpose. _Because that was what it freaking_ _ **did!**_

It hadn't taken him long to figure out what the problem was.

 _Oh. I get it. People are just dumb. The lion's share of people living in this world couldn't tell their ass from a hole in the ground if you gave them a side-by-side comparison._

 _Ass. Hole. See the difference, asshole?_

But they wouldn't see it. Not unless he gave them proof that was so in-your-face that only the most delusional minds would be able to deny it.

So, he would become a Hero. He would overcome Villains on an even playing field by using their own Quirks against them while he outfoxed them with his keen intellect.

Today was going to serve as his proving grounds. He couldn't have asked for a better opponent to kick things off against than the golden boy of USJ. The one whose image was seared into the public eye as a faceless back who spewed flames in order to protect his classmates.

Neito had attempted to gather a bit of info when he had visited 1-A before, but the boy wasn't there at the time because of _course_ he wasn't. Neito had had to settle for feeling out the rest of the competition and while this hadn't resulted in the information that he had _wanted_ , he had managed to glean a few useful tidbits of information.

For instance, that the first-year representative had apparently known him for a long time and was _very_ close with him. One didn't react in such a violent manner over someone that they had known for less than a month or two.

His temper had forced others to act and Neito had gotten a good feel for the overall class dynamic of 1-A. These observations had been further refined when he had hung back a bit during the first round on purpose to get a better feel for everyone's abilities.

That was how he knew that they weren't completely united. USJ had shown them at their absolute best in that they were all working together against a common threat, but that unity did not extend outside of crisis situations. They had close-knit individual groups that were almost guaranteed to team up if given the chance, which was now Neito had been able to predict fairly accurately not only who would be on certain teams, but how those individuals would behave.

This was how he had known to send Tetsutetsu after Team Bakugo's flag when he had seen both Bakugo and Kirishima exit the base, predicting that Ashido would be the one left behind. This was also how he had known that Kaminari and Jiro would likely team up and go straight for the nearest base, which just so happened to be _his_.

Neito had come up with a plan at once: Jiro would use her Quirk to scout out the base and then Kaminari would come charging in, all sparks and bluster. Neito had, therefore, copied Fukidashi's Quirk before sending him on his way with Tetsutetsu.

This had been another point in favor of Neito having done his research. Copy could only copy Emitter or Transformation-type Quirks, with Mutant-types being inaccessible due to the requisite body-restructuring. At first glance, one might have imagined that the boy with a _speech bubble for a head_ was the holder of a Mutant-type Quirk, but Fukidashi's Quirk, Comic, was actually an Emitter-type. When Neito had asked why his head was a speech bubble he had simply shrugged and said something about "wacky genes."

Comic worked in an interesting way: The user would utter some manner of onomatopoeia, at which point the word would physically appear and cause whatever effect was suggested by it. "Boing" would create a word with a bouncy surface, "boom" would create a word that exploded, it was really all down to the user's imagination. Neito had gone with a relatively straightforward approach.

Namely, "screech."

It had proven…somewhat more effective than Neito had intended, if he was being honest. He had meant for it to act as the "bang" part of a flashbang and temporarily stun Jiro and, if he was lucky, Kaminari too. While it had certainly accomplished his goal, it had done so in a rather brutal manner.

Neito was many things, but he did not consider brutal to be one of them. When he had been told by Shinso what had happened…he had been unnerved.

That was why he was currently sitting by himself, elbows propped on the table with his chin resting on his thumbs, just taking a moment to process and tweak his plans.

"Neito? You're trouble."

Neito was taken out of his reverie by a girl with wavy blonde hair, large teal eyes, horse hooves for feet, a small horse's tail and, most notably, a pair of large, lyre-shaped horns protruding from her head that added a good foot and a half to her height.

This was his classmate, Pony Tsunotori. She was an exchange student from America who had enrolled in U.A. after her Japanese father had given her the idea. She wasn't _terrible_ with the language, but it was obvious that she was still getting used to it. Neito occasionally had a bit of fun with her by teaching her new phrases and only _sort of_ explaining what they meant.

He just wasn't in the mood for that at the moment.

"Pony, you mean 'troubled,' not 'trouble.'"

That was another thing, due to her being born and raised in America, Pony was more comfortable using people's first names and insisted that they do the same with her. Neito honestly didn't care and neither did most of their classmates. Some, such as Shiozaki, actively encouraged her to do so with her classmates if it helped her to feel more at home.

Pony tilted her head, considering what he had told her, before smiling.

"You're both."

"Hah! She told you, man!" the new voice turned out to be another of Neito's classmates, Kosei Tsuburaba. The boy was the same height as Neito at five-seven and looked downright ordinary next to Pony with his short brown hair and ovular, slightly toad-like eyes.

"I guess I can't deny that." Neito deadpanned.

"Seriously though, you look like crap. Spill."

"Kosei, that's gross. Why would he spill crap?" Pony frowned at Tsuburaba, turning her slightly muzzle-shaped face towards him.

"He wouldn't, it's…uh…Monoma, help me!"

"You dug your own grave on this one, Tsuburaba. You know better than to use figures of speech around her."

"Oh no! Kosei's dying?!"

"Try taking your own advice, copycat!"

"That was on purpose. Go blow your hot air somewhere else."

"So, Kosei's _not_ dying?"

"No, Pony, he isn't. That was a figure of speech. That's…ech, have Honenuki explain it to you later."

Honenuki, along with being a recommended student and all-around ace, was bilingual and so had the easiest time communicating with Pony. Go figure.

"Okay." she nodded before placing her hands on her hips and leaning down over Neito, giving him a stern look, "Now talk. You're trouble."

"'Troubled,' Pony."

"You're both. Talk."

She really wasn't going to let this go. Neito sighed and gave in.

"I think I went too far during the second round."

"Too far? You stayed in your base, didn't you?" Tsuburaba started snickering again.

"That's not what I mean. I hurt someone when I didn't mean to. At least, not that badly."

"Oh, that girl with the ear thingies."

"Yeah, her."

"So apologize. Just tell her 'I'm sorry,' and everything will be better, right? Everyone's always understanding when I apologize here."

"You're…a special case."

"A 'special case?'" she puffed out her cheeks at him, "Is that anything like a 'head case?'"

Oh, so _now_ teaching her that phrase was coming back to haunt him?

"No, it's not. A 'head case' is someone who's crazy. Like Tsuburaba over there."

"Kosei's a head case?"

"Yeah, look at him, laughing like a crazy person." Tsuburaba was indeed doing his best not to double over in laughter at this point.

"Don't be mean to crazy people, Neito. That's what Mommy always told me, but it's hard to tell who's crazy, so I just decided to be nice to everyone."

"Yeah, that sounds like you."

"Of course it does. I said it. Are you a head case too, Neito?"

Neito couldn't help himself. He chuckled at that.

"Sure, let's go with that."

"Go? Okay! Go where? You want to play some games? They have those outside right now."

"Sure. Why not?"

He wasn't going to get much thinking done with the situation as it was now anyway, so he may as well try to enjoy himself.

Plus, if he didn't, then Pony might start yelling at him in English again and, cute though she may be, there are few things scarier than having a girl shout at you in a language you don't entirely understand.

Neito vowed to pay closer attention in Present Mic's classes after the first time that happened. His English grades had never been better.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was taking a moment to process what his best friend had just told him. The reason being, apart from the fact that he always made it a point to take what his friends told him seriously, that he was very possibly screwed.

Kacchan was initially reluctant to discuss the events that had lead to him more or less disappearing for the last several minutes of the second event, but when he had realized who Izuku's opponent was for the first round of the tournament, his attitude had changed completely.

Apparently, after he had dropped off Team Awase's flag, Kacchan had tailed Tetsutetsu until he discovered that he was a part of Team Monoma and then launched an attack on said team's base.

" _I remembered who that guy was then and let's just say I was going to enjoy taking our flag back from_ him _of all people. Just like before, he couldn't resist shooting his mouth off, so I told him to fuck off and then…it was really fucked up. It was like I couldn't move or speak, but when he gave a command, I had to obey him. He just made me sit in the corner until the event was over and then I could act normally again. He was really proud of himself too; I remember him giving that purple-haired kid a high-five after he got back from wherever the fuck he was."_

So apparently Izuku's opponent in the first round could control people.

Great. Fantastic. As if he didn't have enough to worry about with everyone _else_ who was on his side of the bracket. It featured such heavy-hitters as Yaoyorozu, Iida, Ojiro, _Todoroki_ and, oh yeah, _Kacchan._

Good times abound. Fun for all ages. Bring the kids.

"This…could be bad." was the statement that Izuku eventually went with. Understatement of the year? Possibly, but it was the best he could do right then.

"At least we know what his Quirk is." Kacchan shrugged, "If it wasn't for this, then it would've been a toss-up between mind control or whatever made that noise that hurt Earphones and the President."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too!" Ochako chimed in, "But then the indigo-haired boy…Shinso-san? He came out and he looked really shocked by what had happened. He felt bad enough that he even helped Kaminari-san and Jiro-san get back to their base after they captured his flag. It must have been him then, right?"

So, if they assumed that the noise Quirk belonged to Shinso, then that provided supporting evidence that the mind control Quirk really did belong to Monoma and wasn't just part of some team attack. That made sense. Izuku could buy that.

"And from what you said, Kacchan, the mind control only took hold once you responded to him. Granted, we can't make any real assumptions based on that, but a Quirk as powerful as that would have to have some sort of condition for activation, right? Maybe that's what it is?"

"Either that or he's got a real fondness for theatrics." Kirishima pondered before Ashido came running up to them with a large index card clutched in one hand. Apparently, she was taking part in the scavenger hunt.

"Kiri! Kiri! Are you busy?"

"Not really, just talking strategy with the gang. Of course, my match is gonna be a straightforward manly brawl!"

"Great! I'mma steal you then, okay?" by the time she had finished speaking, she had already seized him by the wrist and started dragging him away.

"Well, there he goes…" Izuku trailed off before remembering what they were _supposed_ to be doing, "Right! Speaking of strategy, do you all know what you're going to do?"

"Duh." Kacchan rolled his eyes, "I'll blow her away before she gets the chance to make anything fancy. If I can force a close-range fight, then she won't stand a chance."

"I would recommend caution." Shoji opined, "After all, if you factor in pure combat ability, she stands in the same tier as you, Bakugo-san."

"She's a technical type. Redirection, counterattacks, joint locks and shit." Kacchan gave a dismissive wave of his hand, "In a straight fistfight she might be trouble, but if she tries anything all I have to do is fire off an explosion."

"I still think you shouldn't underestimate Yaoyorozu-san, Kacchan."

"Noted. Now let's get on with this damn strategy meeting."

"Very well." Shoji took the reins, "My plan for Ashido-san is no more complex than yours, Bakugo-san: I am at a disadvantage in terms of range, so I intend to close the gap and impose my will. Ideally, I can get her into a corner where she will have few escape options."

Izuku could see one very large problem with his large friend's plan.

"But, won't you be taking hits from her acid? What are you going to do about that?"

"I will figure something out, Midoriya-san. Do not worry about me."

"If you say so." Izuku reluctantly agreed, "That just leaves Uraraka-san and Iida-san. Say, where _is_ Iida-san anyway?"

"Hey, yeah. I thought it seemed unusually quiet." Kacchan said, apparently not having realized that he was gone until then.

"I am sure that he is fine. Perhaps he is taking part in the festivities?" Shoji suggested.

"Maybe." Ochako shrugged, "Anyway, my opponent is Tokoyami-san. I…honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I mean, obviously I want to hit him with Zero Gravity. If I do that then he'll have no real choice but to surrender, but the problem is…"

"Dark Shadow." Shoji nodded.

"Yeah." she agreed, "Dark Shadow is just so fast and powerful, not to mention that he can operate at short, medium _and_ long-range! It's almost unfair!"

"Yeah…almost…" Izuku was running some mental simulations of how their match might play out," Uraraka-san, I think I might have an idea, if you'd like my help. It's not much, but I think that it could be enough to give you a fighting chance."

"I…well…" she seemed reluctant, which caused more than a few alarm bells to go off in Izuku's head, "I'm not sure if it'd be right for me to do that. I mean, I've pretty much just been coasting along on your plans this whole time, Deku-kun. If I'm being honest, I know how Tooru-chan felt when she pulled out of the tournament. I'm just not selfless enough to do something like that." she rubbed the back of her neck and gave a guilty smile, "Considering that, I guess I don't feel like I deserve the help."

"Come the fuck on, Uraraka; you're being a complete-"

"That's ridiculous, Uraraka-san." Izuku cut Kacchan off mid-sentence, "You think you've been relying on me? Maybe so, but I've been relying on _you_ just as much! Do you think my plan in the obstacle race would have had _any_ chance of working without you? What about those narrow escapes we had during the second event?" he put his hands on her shoulders and stared directly into her eyes, frowning slightly, "My strength lies in my tactical abilities. That's where it's always been and, odds are, that's where it'll always be. Planning and strategizing in order to help my friends is what I _do_. It's what I'm _for_! Whatever I've done for you…you've done a lot more for me, so don't you think for a _second_ that you don't deserve my help! That is…if you want it." he trailed off, suddenly feeling a bit sheepish at what he was unintentionally implying.

"I could not have said it better myself, Midoriya-san." Shoji said with what Izuku was fairly certain was a knowing smile underneath his mask.

"Tch." Kacchan gave a sort of half-grimace that looked rather uncomfortable, "It's not like you to get so handsy, Deku. You must be feeling pretty fired up about this."

 _Crap, that_ was _a bit out of character for me, wasn't it?_

 _Not with your girlfriend._

 _He doesn't know that!_

 _Then play it cool._

"Well, it's just, before the second round, I said something dumb and you guys didn't waste any time setting me straight. I guess…it only felt right to return the favor?"

"I guess."

"Well, then I guess you should tell me what you've got planned, Deku-kun." Uraraka suggested.

"Right! Well, like I said, it's not much, but-"

"Oh, not here. I'd like you to tell me in private, if that's alright? I feel like it'd be more fun if this was a surprise for everyone! Imagine if I actually managed to win, right?"

"Oh, um, sure?" he honestly didn't know how to respond to that.

"Whatever. Get going and make sure to blow us all away with this genius plan of yours." Kacchan waved them away.

Izuku followed Ochako as she led him deeper into the building. Izuku vaguely recognized it as being a side-entrance similar to the one Todoroki had dragged him to earlier. And wasn't _that_ a whole new can of worms.

"Uraraka-san, where are we going?"

"Here works." she directed him to a spot several feet away from a corner, just out of view of the side entrance.

"Okay, so-mmmph?!" Izuku was cut off as his girlfriend abruptly seized his head in both hands and dragged him into a short, but passionate, kiss, "I, -y-you, this isn't the p-place for something like this, Uraraka-san!" Izuku stammered.

"Do you see anyone else around, Deku-kun?"

To her credit, Izuku did not.

"T-that still doesn't explain why – not that I d-didn't _like_ – but that's not the point!"

"I blame _you_." she poked him in the chest to punctuate her statement, "Why do you have to _say_ things like that all the time?! It's not fair! How am I supposed to respond to something like that and still keep everything a secret?"

"I'm…sorry?"

"What you _are_ is a jerk. The nicest, most wonderful _jerk_ that I know. And after it was _your_ idea to keep things low-key too!"

"You're right. I had a lapse in judgement. I just couldn't let you talk about yourself like that!"

"See? I can't even be mad at you about it." she gave him a glare that didn't match the small smile on her face, "Now, what was your idea for how to win against Tokoyami-san?"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Mina, where are you taking me?"

"Over there! I'm doing the scavenger hunt and I'm pretty sure you qualify as my item."

"Item? What does your card say, anyway?"

"'Testosterone.'"

"Well, if all you needed was to find someone manly, then you picked right!"

"I knew you'd agree, Ei." Eijiro could practically _hear_ her rolling her eyes as she pulled him along.

"So, this tournament, right? You feeling pumped?"

"Well…fifty-fifty. A small part of me was hoping that we could meet up in the finals, but now that's impossible."

"Yeah, I get what you mean. Well, we'll just have to meet up in the semifinals then! Look at the bright side, if we do that then we'll both be in the top four! Whoever wins has a shot at the top spot that way. That's still cool, yeah?" she spent a few moments in silence, thinking about what he had said.

"Yeah!" she decided, "You're right, Ei. We should focus on making the best of it! Top four is still pretty awesome, even if top two would have been better."

"Now you're talking! Let's start things off right by winning our first matches!" he pulled on her arm, making her turn around before grasping her hand in his and shaking it, "It's a promise! Manliness on full display!"

"You're really not giving me much choice here, are you?" she gave him a wry smile before flicking his forehead with her free hand, "Fine, it's a promise."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The remainder of the recreational period passed in what seemed like no time at all. Izuku chalked the majority of this up to the fact that he spent nearly the entire time strategizing (after all, time flies when you're having fun) and the rest up to him being otherwise mentally occupied.

 _She's got a bit of a "bad girl" streak to her, doesn't she?_

 _What are you talking about?_

 _Think about it for a moment: she's never really shied away from doing semi-illegal things before. Multiple counts of unlicensed public Quirk usage, a few of which she dragged you into, so I guess that makes you an accomplice, huh? Apart from that, she seems at least a little sympathetic towards Vigilantes and, as she showed you just now, she has no issues with telling a little white lie in order to get a moment alone with her boyfriend. Don't get me wrong, nobody's ever gotten hurt or anything because of this stuff, but it's not something a goody-goody like you would think of on your own._

 _I'm…not sure I like what you're implying._

 _And_ I'm _not sure I like how dense you are, but nobody's perfect._

 _What are you talking about?_

 _I'm saying that your girlfriend was right when she said that you're really stupid for a guy who's supposed to be smart. I guess I can't blame you for it though. It's not your fault; it just happens to be a fault of yours._

 _Do you plan on making sense anytime soon?_

 _If you're asking me to give you the answers, then the answer is "no." As much as I'd like to, I can't just give you information that you wouldn't think of on your own. Call it an unfortunate side-effect of being "you."_

 _So, you mean the reason that you've started acting differently lately is-_

 _Because you started suspecting that something was up. You've always been a cerebral oddball, but you've never been full-on crazy. Well, not like_ that _anyway. I could compliment you on being self-aware, but I don't want to give the impression that I'm happy with your current state of mind._

 _If you can't tell me, can you at least give me a hint?_

 _The biggest hint that I can give you is that you're thinking about things the wrong way. Of course, the fact that I can say that means that you already know it, so a fat lot of good it'll do you. For now, just focus on the tournament. Push yourself and grow stronger from it, just like you're supposed to._

Sure, drop a bombshell like _that_ on a guy and then tell him to forget about it. Sometimes, Izuku really hated his overactive brain.

 _Love you too, buddy._

Izuku managed to resist punching himself in the head by reminding himself that A) it would only really hurt _him_ and B) it would draw some very, _very_ unwanted attention.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Ochako Uraraka was nervous. Given that she was about to kick off the first round of a major national event, this came as no surprise, especially considering who her opponent was. The one thing that helped to calm her nerves was the simple fact that she had a _plan_. Deku had laid the groundwork for her and she had managed to expand on it a little in the short time that remained before her match started.

It was my no means guaranteed to work and Deku had been the first one to say as much. Even so, Ochako had faith in him. He had more than earned that after all the times his tactical expertise had shown him the path to victory, be it his own or someone else's.

More than that though, she was just happy to have his support. Everyone else's too, of course: Bakugo with his backhanded words of encouragement, Shoji with his quiet reassurances and general air of tranquility, Kirishima with his gung-ho exclamations and Iida with his earnest, textbook reminder that all she had to do was her best.

Really, that was what it came down to in the end: her best. The whole point of the Sports Festival was to attract the attention of Pro Heroes and their agencies by showing them what she could do. To that end, all she could do was her best.

Hopefully, that would be good enough.

" _It will be."_

That was all Deku had said when she had voiced this particular concern, but for Ochako, they were enough to straighten her back and square her shoulders as she stood in the tunnel leading to one end of the field where Cementoss had been hard at work constructing a large, two-tiered, rectangular ring that rose several feet off the ground to give the audience a better view. In each corner was a massive torch that spewed flames upwards to a height of nearly twenty feet.

 _Well, Deku-kun will be happy about that._

" _Thank you, Cementoss! HEY GUYS! ARE YOU READY?!"_ Present Mic's voice boomed across the field once more, _"We've got one heck of a show in store for you all today! It's a tournament comprised of one-on-one matches where no holds are barred and no quarter is given! There will be conflict! There will be hardship! There will in all likelihood be at least a bit of blood! Of course, maiming someone or otherwise going too far is strictly forbidden! It is only in a fight for your life that such things are permissible! Don't worry though; our very own Recovery Girl is on standby!"_

Ochako took one last steadying breath. She knew what was coming next.

" _And so, without further ado, let's welcome our first two combatants! Match One: She's proven herself to be a real go-getter and one heck of a team player, but how will she fare on her own? One touch and it's ALL OVER! It's Ochako Uraraka!"_

Ochako balled her hands into fists and walked onto the field to a wave of applause. It felt different than the applause for the first two events and it took her a moment to realize why.

 _It's for me. Before, it was for everyone but this, right now, is all for me._

It was a humbling feeling to say the least. Was this how Heroes felt all the time? With the expectations of everyone on their shoulders?

Ochako wasn't what one would call a top student, but she could tell that there was a lesson to be learned here as she smiled and waved to the crowd, causing the applause to swell even more.

" _Now, let's welcome her opponent! He's a denizen of the darkness with a demon inside, but don't let that stop you from cheering for him! He's a true-blue blackbird of justice and if he has his way, both of those colors will be all over his opponent! Please welcome Fumikage Tokoyami!"_

Tokoyami emerged from the opposite end of the field, his gaze as sharp as ever, though whether that was because he was serious or just because of his birdlike visage was anyone's guess. He also received a large amount of applause, though he did not wave or make any other appeal to the crowd. Soon enough, the two were standing in the ring, separated by roughly twenty feet of space.

The upper tier of the ring was roughly fifty feet by forty feet, with a marked interior that was more along the lines of forty by thirty. Realistically speaking, there wasn't a lot of space for Ochako to cover in order to reach Tokoyami, but she knew that he would make her fight for every single step she took.

" _The rules are simple! You can achieve victory in three ways: First, if any part of your opponent's body touches the ground outside of the ring, you win! Second, if your opponent is judged to be unable to continue, you win! Third, if your opponent surrenders, you win! Easy, right? As before, your referee will be Midnight, but, due to the nature of this contest, we also have Cementoss on-hand to help put a stop to things if the situation becomes too dangerous!"_

Indeed, Cementoss had used some leftover cement to construct a ringside chair for himself and was waving one of his large, blocky hands good-naturedly. Midnight, for her part, stepped into the center of the ring from where she had previously been standing off to the side.

"Uraraka, are you ready?"

"Yes." _As much as I'll ever be._

"Tokoyami, are you ready?"

"I am."

"Very well. Take your stances and…BEGIN!"

No sooner had she uttered that final word and leapt out of the way then Dark Shadow emerged from Tokoyami's abdomen and shot straight towards Ochako. This was what she had expected him to do, though.

" _Tokoyami-san knows how your Quirk works, Ochako."_ Deku had said, _"He knows that you need to get in close, so he'll do everything he can to prevent that from happening. He'll be on his guard for anything unusual from you, so, as sorry as I am to say this, your only option in the beginning…"_

… _would be to give him exactly what he wants, right, Deku-kun?_

Ochako had not wasted any time either, charging forward as soon as the match had begun. The result was that, by the time she was forced to dive to the side in order to avoid Dark Shadow, she had covered about a third of the distance between them.

 _Crap! I knew that he'd be faster than me, but even so…no! Don't think about that. Focus on where Tokoyami-san is!_

Sure enough, Tokoyami had backed away and to the side slightly and was eyeing her warily.

" _It's important to remember that Tokoyami-san and Dark Shadow are two fighters in one. Just because your Quirk discourages Tokoyami-san from getting in close with you doesn't mean that he's a non-issue. Remember how he won his fight with Iida-san!"_

He had used Dark Shadow's attacks to draw Iida's attention and had used this distraction to enable himself to move freely. In other words, it would be difficult to corner him.

Fortunately, cornering him was never a part of the plan.

" **Come on! Either give up or fight me head-on, but quit with the dodging already!"** Dark Shadow groused as she rolled to avoid the latest swipe from his taloned hand, bringing herself a bit closer to Tokoyami as she did so.

" **Don't think that I can't tell what you're up to, girly! I've been playing nice up until now, but if you think I'm just going to let you send my partner flying, you've got another thing coming!"**

With that, Tokoyami retracted the tether of darkness that connected him to Dark Shadow, causing the sentient Quirk to hover a few feet in front of him, arms spread wide.

"Uraraka-san," Tokoyami intoned, "you have obviously given some thought to your strategy against me, but no matter what you may have planned, it all ends the same way, no? If you cannot touch me, then you cannot use your Quirk on me."

" **In other words, in order to get to him, you'll have to go through** _ **me**_ **!"**

Ochako gulped. The conditions weren't ideal, but this was the moment.

"Okay. If that's my only choice, then let's see what you can do, Dark Shadow!"

" **Now you're talking!"**

" _You need him to think that he has you all figured out. No matter how safe he might be playing it, if he believes that he has you beaten, then he'll lower his guard just a little. Once that happens, then it'll be time to answer one simple question."_

As Ochako charged at her opponent, she suddenly dropped onto one knee, arresting her momentum and deflecting Dark Shadow's blow with her arm even as she sent her other hand shooting upwards towards his body.

" _Namely, will Zero Gravity affect Dark Shadow?"_

It was a question that Ochako would never have thought to ask herself, but as Deku explained his reasoning, it started to make sense to her.

Dark Shadow obviously had some sort of physical presence. After all, he could fight and lift things with his hands, right? That meant he had to have mass, right? And, since weight was just the result of gravity acting on the mass of an object…

…that meant that she could take it away.

"HAH!" Ochako slammed the palm of her hand into Dark Shadow's underbelly at an upward angle. This was something that she had thought up on her own and it was all thanks to Fight Club.

" _You know, since all five of your fingers need to touch someone in order to activate your Quirk, punches aren't really the best option for you."_ Ojiro had observed, _"Why don't I show you how to do a palm-strike instead? It's simple, effective and actually produces more raw force than a punch does, which could be useful if you want to send your target flying."_

" **What the-"** Dark Shadow was unhurt, of course, but as he turned around and started to charge at Ochako again to prevent her from reaching Tokoyami, he ended up missing her by a wide enough margin that she barely needed to duck her head, **"What gives?! I can't move right!"**

" _If this works, then in all likelihood Dark Shadow won't simply float away, since Tokoyami will still be there to serve as an anchor. If you're lucky though, it will still interfere with his ability to move. Regardless of how his movement works, gravity must still factor in there somewhere. If you take that away, then he'll misjudge his movements before he figures out how to compensate!"_

Ochako made one final, desperate leap towards Tokoyami as his shock wore off and he started to move. He attempted to leap to the left, but the delay had given Ochako all the extra time she needed.

" _Listeners, Tokoyami is in some_ serious _trouble now! Wouldn't you agree, my loyal co-host?"_

" _I think there's something to be said about counting your chickens before they hatch."_

" _OH MY, listeners! I think he might be right! Look at what Dark Shadow is doing!"_

Tokoyami had indeed been hit with Zero Gravity, but before he could drift outside of the ring, whereupon Ochako would cancel it and cause him to lose, Dark Shadow had shot downwards and buried his talons in the center of the ring, making Tokoyami resemble nothing so much as a kite.

" **I have to admit, that was one hell of a plan! You've really fucked up my mobility with that little stunt of yours! But, you know, there's one thing you forgot!"**

"You aren't the only one who can strategize before a match, Uraraka-san!" before Ochako had the chance to turn around, she felt Tokoyami slam into her from behind and begin forcing her out of the arena in a bizarre reversal of how he usually controlled Dark Shadow.

 _No way! With Dark Shadow locked in place and his gravity disabled, he can move_ himself _instead! If I release Zero Gravity, then it might not work anymore, but I'll be right back where I started! A plan like that won't work a second time!_

 _Still, it's all or nothing!_

"Release!"

With his gravity restored, Tokoyami was forced to arrest his momentum before he landed outside the ring. Ochako grabbed onto his arm to stop her from flying out when he let go, instead flipping around and nearly dislocating his arm on accident before her grip was broken and she rolled to a stop mere feet from the edge of the ring. She scrambled to her feet and ran at Tokoyami once more, hoping to reach him before Dark Shadow could intervene.

"I won't quit!" she was nearly there. She reached out with her hand and-

He was gone.

" **Dude, you need to lay off the chips. This was** _ **way**_ **easier when you were weightless!"**

"Now is not the time for this discussion. End it."

He hadn't intended to bring Dark Shadow over. He had simply reeled himself in. With that sort of mobility option…

…it was over.

"I…I sur-"

"Hey, I feel like I know her from somewhere."

"I know what you mean. Like…hey, wait a minute, is that Infinity Girl?"

Ochako would never know how she heard those two voices amongst the thousands of spectators, but there was an immediate ripple effect once they had spoken.

"Did you say 'Infinity Girl?'"

"You mean from that HeroTube video?"

"I saw that! She's the one that fought Dr. Vertigo's monster!"

"Ohmygod is that _her_?! I _love_ her!"

"It was so cool how she pulled through in the end!"

"Don't give up, Infinity Girl! Infinity divided by anything is still infinity!"

"When's the next video coming out? I subscribed just for that!"

" _Oh, my! It seems that the super-secret identity of Infinity Girl has been revealed! How will this revelation impact the match?!"_

 _They're cheering for me…like I'm a real Hero…_

 _They want me to win, but what can I do?_

 _Well, I guess it's clear what I_ can't _do. After all, a_ real _Hero would never give up! In the face of a Villain, surrender's…_

"Surrender's not an option!" she ran at Dark Shadow, who was already halfway to her by that point, and jumped just before he collided with her, wrapping her arms around his body even as his fist collided with her gut.

She couldn't breathe. The wind had been knocked out of her and she was currently suspended in the air outside of the ring, but Dark Shadow was having difficulty descending due to the effects of Zero Gravity.

"Uraraka-san," Tokoyami said with an air of finality, "this is your last chance. Are you sure that you will not surrender?"

"Didn't you ***cough*** hear me before, Tokoyami-san?" she rasped, "Surrender isn't an option!"

"Then I am afraid I must hurt you. My apologies."

With that, he ran towards the edge of the ring, keeping Dark Shadow at a distance before leaping into the air and firing his Quirk towards the ground with his arms spread wide.

The collision was swift and unforgiving, resulting in Ochako hitting the ground a mere second before her opponent did the same.

"Both contestants are out of bounds!" Midnight announced, "But as Uraraka hit the ground first, Tokoyami wins by ring out!"

" _You heard the lady, listeners! After a pulse-pounding first match, Tokoyami has emerged victorious! Let's have a big hand for both of our combatants for kicking this tournament off right!"_

As Ochako got to her feet, the applause from the spectators was a whole degree of magnitude louder than it had been from the start.

"I can't believe Infinity Girl lost!"

"That bird guy must be something else! Even Dr. Vertigo's final creation couldn't beat her!"

As Ochako waved to the crowd one last time as she exited the field, she couldn't help but grimace at the thought that the spectators were overestimating her abilities based on that HeroTube video.

 _Still though, it's funny that they'd compare it to my match with Shoji-kun. It feels like I ended up with similar injuries to that time…ow. I should probably visit Recovery Girl._

Even if it was something she had experienced before, cracked ribs were _not_ fun.

* * *

 **So, real quick, shout-out to CaedmonCousland for essentially predicting the first match IN IT'S ENTIRETY. JESUS CHRIST. I thought I was being clever with that.  
**

 **Sorry for the long pre-chapter A/N, there was just a lot to talk about and a lot of good questions to be answered.**

 **Slightly shorter than the last few chapters have been, but we covered a fair number of points and it just felt like a good stopping point. Now that the tournament has officially started, you can bet that these next few chapters (at least) will be full of action and whatnot. I honestly have no concrete prediction of how long the tournament is going to be in terms of chapter count. Even the first match went longer than I had intended, since Ochako was originally going to be rung out by Tokoyami right after her initial plan failed.**

 **Now, I promised to explain how I decided the point totals for the contest. Basically, since nobody made a 100% accurate guess, I had to come up with a method to decide the next-closest person. I ended up devising a point system by which each correct guess (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 3rd) was worth 1 point and, if you just so happened to get all four of the "finalists" correct, even if you didn't put them in the correct spot, that was also worth 1 point, for a grand possible total of 5 points. Yes, this does mean that it's impossible to actually get 4 points, but it served a good function as a tiebreaker. Otherwise we would have just had a shitload of people with 2 points and there would be no clear winner.**

 **Without giving too much away, there were in fact THREE people who ended up with 3 points and FOUR people who guessed the four finalists correctly, though they were out of order. These four will all receive shout-outs when the final four are revealed and the winner will be announced when the tournament has concluded. Unfortunately, this means that you all won't find out who won until sometime next year. Oh, well.**

 **Like I said up top though, feel free to update your predictions as the tournament progresses even though they won't count for the contest. I always enjoy seeing how you guys think.**

 **Next time: The tournament continues and Ochako talks to her daddy. How will the differences from canon affect things? Find out in a week!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	33. Omake 2 and Update

**Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that all is now well and I can resume my normal level of productivity in regards to Torchbearer. The bad news is that, due to my computer having been non-operational since Wednesday, there will be no chapter this week since I haven't had the opportunity to write it. I only got back up and running about an hour ago and it's Saturday night.  
**

 **However, I still want to give you guys _something_ , so here's what was going to be the next omake. It's just a little blurb about Izuku arguing with himself, because that's always fun.**

 **Since this isn't an official chapter, we will resume with the reviews and whatnot next week. I apologize again.**

* * *

Omake: Quantifiable Cuteness

Izuku Midoriya was feeling pretty good about life. In the short time since he had started at U.A., things had improved quite a bit for him. Kacchan wasn't treating him like a Sidekick anymore, he was learning from real Heroes like Eraserhead, Present Mic, Midnight and, of course, All Might himself and he had even managed to make new friends.

One of whom had even become his _girlfriend_.

And she was just incredible. She was nice, smart, supportive-

 _Don't forget how cute she is when she blushes._

 _Yeah, she's- hang on a minute. I think I take exception to the implications there._

 _Um…what?_

 _By saying she's cute when she blushes, you're implying that blushing is a prerequisite for her being cute._

 _Why the hell are_ you _taking exception to that? You think she's cute when she blushes too!_

 _I'm allowed! She's not here right now so, as her boyfriend, I'm taking exception on her behalf._

 _I don't think that's how it works._

 _Hey, if friends can get offended on behalf of their friends, then surely as her_ boyfriend _I'm allowed to do this._

 _Okay, whatever. Moving on to the main issue here, you're being an idiot; she's obviously cute when she blushes._

 _And_ I _say she's cute_ all _the time whether she's blushing or not!_

 _Why are you turning this into an argument?!_

 _Because you're suggesting that Ochako's cuteness is dependent on whether or not she's blushing and I disagree._

 _Then allow me to correct you: I am suggesting no such thing. I'm just saying she's cute when she blushes._

 _See, you're doing it again!_

\- Twenty Minutes Later –

 _Okay! Okay! So, we're agreed on this: Ochako's level of cuteness, while not dependent on whether or not she happens to be blushing at the time, is arguably amplified by this fact. Furthermore, that thing that she does where she rubs the back of her neck when she's embarrassed is also cute, though further debate is required to determine whether this is additive or multiplicative in nature when combined with her blushing._

 _How does her hotness factor into all this?_

 _What?_

 _Come on, she's got a nice body! Hell, you certainly have no trouble appreciating that fact whenever she's in-costume. If you're talking about her cuteness factor, you have to take the whole package into the mix, not just two specific things she does._

 _This is going to be my whole afternoon, isn't it?_

 _Hey,_ you _started it._

 _I DID NOT!_

\- Two Hours Later –

 _Okay, FOR THE THIRD GODDAMN TIME-_

 _WHOA! Hostile!_

 _You-! No. Yeah. No. You're right. That was uncalled for. I'm sorry._

 _I feel like our discussion is causing some elevated levels of tension on both sides here and that we could both benefit from a quick break._

 _That's a good idea._

 _Cool. Take ten. Get a drink, take a leak, do some pushups, whatever. See ya then._

… _Other Izuku?_

Izuku stood up from his bed, completely confused. He suddenly felt an emptiness in his head-space that he had never realized had been occupied up until that moment.

 _Did…did he_ leave _? He can_ do _that?_

Izuku wasn't sure how to feel about this and decided to just listen to the voice currently absent from his head and hit the john. Then he would get something to drink. Green tea sounded good.

\- Ten Minutes Later –

 _Okay, and we're back! Feeling better?_

 _Much. Also, where the_ hell _did you go? I didn't think you could actually_ go _anywhere!_

 _I took a quick break in your subconscious and riffled through a few things. You should be having an epiphany in three, two, one-_

 _I think we've been going about this the wrong way. We've been treating this as a debate on cuteness when what we_ should _be doing is treating it as an exploration of overall appeal instead._

 _I can get behind that._

Izuku's internal conversation lasted late into the night. Fortunately, Inko was out and about that day, or she might have started to become concerned about the length, complexity and vigor of the discussions her son was having with himself.

In the end, both parts of Izuku came to the conclusion that, while Ochako's cuteness could potentially be considered her primary mode of appeal, this was heavily impacted by her other traits and the occasional juxtaposition between it and, for instance, what Other Izuku had dubbed "the sexiness factor."

And that's the story of how Izuku had a day-long argument with himself involving made-up words pertaining to artificially-constructed metrics that were all designed to prove to the voice in his head how awesome his girlfriend was.

In fact, he was so engrossed in this argument that he had not once stopped to consider whether or not he was still sane. For some reason the thought just hadn't occurred to him.

* * *

 **I came up with that while talking to myself in the car one day and I wish I had written more of it down. Oh well. You know you're nuts when the voice in your head needs a minute to cool off.  
**

 **Oh, while I've got you here, there will most likely be no chapter on December 23rd. I'm out of state starting on Friday and ending Sunday evening, so I won't have my usual time to write. Xmas season and all that. That's the only week I plan on missing though.**

 **As always, (no matter how short it might have been this week) thank you for reading!**


	34. Chapter 33: Man of Steel

**Alright! We are back and running at full-throttle! I apologize again for the lack of a proper chapter last week, but it's nice to see that a lot of you enjoyed the omake! This week's Review Time will cover reviews from both chapter 32 and last week's omake, so if you reviewed for both, your responses could be bundled together.**

 **Review Time:**

 **avidreaded, uchihaNaruto247, Jack Inqu, The 0bservanc3 : Tokoyami is indeed a very powerful opponent, especially in a situation like the Sports Festival. I'm pleased to see that people recognize this and are proud of Ochako doing as well as she did against him.  
**

 **Naruffoku : Pony's language barrier is difficult to portray well, since English and Japanese are two fundamentally different languages not only in terms of structure and grammar, but also in they way they use jokes and euphemisms. Obviously, since I'm writing this fic in English and am only fluent in English, there will be some stuff that gets lost in translation. I do not mean to imply that Pony is unintelligent, since this is certainly not the case, but she has canonically been shown to be rather innocent and trusting, to the point where Monoma is able to repeatedly get away with messing with her. I'm just having fun with that.**

 **Slayer76 : I do not think that Ochako will ever be able to affect the air itself. The main reason that she was able to use Zero Gravity on Dark Shadow is because of his physical presence, which renders him solid for all intents and purposes. I do enjoy insanity a bit too much, so I have to be careful not to drive Izuku completely overboard XD.  
**

 **Mrguy22594 : I will probably have to do an omake on the video at some point. I keep meaning to show how viral it is, but it either never fits or I forget. It's gotten reasonably popular though. The SAO Abridged scene with Kirito and Asuna arguing with themselves is a good way of imagining this, yes.  
**

 **ILiekFishes : Yeah, I don't think it's going to be a surprise to anyone when that turns out to be Ochako's Hero Name. Of course my goal is to make things more intense! I hope I succeeded at that in this chapter as well. Honestly, that scene might happen anyway. The relationship between Izuku and Other Izuku certainly isn't going away anytime soon and that certainly seems like the type of thing Izuku might think about.**

 **Tism-schism : Well, obviously I can't confirm or deny this theory without massive spoilers, but I will say that you certainly provide some good evidence for it.**

 **The** **0bservanc3 : Good to know the problem is fixed. Honestly, the regular updates are as much to keep me productive as they are to keep the fans entertained. I'm a bit of a schmuck when it comes to long-term projects, so this is good for me. I do remember that quote from Watchmen now. Thank you for reminding me!**

 **I warned you that my Monoma has more to him than you think :D I will admit that I took inspiration from Shinso's backstory for him. It's great to see that I'm changing some people's opinions of him for the better. Honestly, I have no idea why Pony isn't used more. She's so easy to have fun with! And yes, dramatic irony is in full effect regarding the Izuku vs Monoma fight. I really want to leave the conclusion at least plausibly up in the air, even though basically everyone knows that Izuku will win. As for how he'll react to Izuku's Quirk...well, let's just say that it will be more of a revelation for Izuku than it will for Neito.  
**

 **As for more powerful Quirks having more specific triggers, a few examples I can think of off the top of my head are Momo having to know the exact molecular structure of whatever she creates, Aizawa only being able to erase Quirks as long as he keeps his eyes open and on his target, Kurogiri having to be familiar with his destination for warping, Himiko needing blood to fuel her transformations and, of course, the physical backlash from Ow Fuck my Arm. I'm really trying to handle the shipping and character development well and it's always good to hear that I'm doing that.**

 **From the get-go, I knew that I wanted to do more with Dark Shadow. He's a SENTIENT QUIRK for chrissakes and he gets so little love in canon! It's a crime! Upon looking back, it does look like what Aizawa said could have been construed as a joke. I'll chalk it up to him being the straight man stuck in a booth with Present Mic. You can't NOT banter with Present Mic when you're his co-host. I don't care who you are. The video did indeed go slightly viral, especially with the Sports Festival driving more traffic to the U.A. HeroTube channel. I don't think that Ochako can double-apply her Quirk. That would just make it too OP. I do intend to have other contests where people will be able to request Omakes. I just don't know what those might be at the moment. Any ideas are welcome!**

 **My tech problems are indeed all sorted out! I've got my new SSD installed and my computer is running better than ever. Exactly how much of this omake is canon is up to debate. I'm not sure whether Other Izuku can actually screw with Izuku's mind like that, though him being able to "leave" to his subconscious seems plausible. It might answer your question to say that answering your question would result in spoilers concerning Other Izuku's true nature.**

 **KiraWani : I had never heard of Enen no Shouboutai before now and after looking it up and realizing it's by the same guy who did Soul Eater, I will certainly have to check it out.**

 **The_Narr_Master : Having Izuku accidentally break someone's brain because they tried to read his mind would be hilarious. If I ever end up introducing such a character, that would pretty much be a required scene for them.**

 **Reverseflash : I will admit that the idea of catching up to Viridescent is one that has occurred to me before. I guess when a fic has been the undisputed (let's be real here) number one in Follows, Favorites AND Reviews for as long as it has, it becomes a bit of a target for hopeful writers. Torchbearer is clawing its way steadily up the ranks though. We've actually already made it to page one if you filter by Reviews and we're on page two if you filter by Follows or Favorites. I do firmly believe that I owe this not only to my amazing fans but also to my regular update schedule which keeps new people coming in and old ones coming back.**

 **Guest : To use anything beyond 5% of OFA's power, Izuku does need to consume flames. He also needs to consume flames to use fire attacks. The amount required scales linearly with the amount of power he is attempting to use. Full Cowl operates under its own set of rules that have not yet been entirely revealed.**

 **Ayame77 : Welcome aboard! I understand that not everyone likes the review section, but I'll have to ask you to just scroll past it if you're not interested. The post-chapter Author's Notes section is it's own thing that generally contains things that I actually want everyone to read, so that's why I keep them separated. I'm glad you're enjoying the fic though!**

 **Darashiko, D3lph0xL0v3r, axc-0, DeepWound78, JLR01, 0 Jordinio 0, bhennen, CodeTalker69, GlassedGamer, HankFlamion18, C_J_Robbins, Sentinel07, Eramis8, Devildogg20, Guest, ajm35 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's keep this thing going! Time for everyone's favorite six-armed man!**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three: Man of Steel

Mezo Shoji was amused. Most people would be unable to tell this just from looking at him, and for good reason, but the feeling was there nevertheless. The source (perhaps _sources_ would be a more accurate term?) of his amusement was a rather simple one: two of his friends had apparently gotten together fairly recently and were still in that early stage where they had not told anyone yet. This resulted in them doing their best to keep things secret and it was from these actions that Mezo derived his current amusement.

It was not as though they were doing a _bad_ job of it per-se, it was simply that Mezo had made it his business to be a highly observant individual; a trait which was made all the more potent when dealing with those whom he actually _knew_. It was for this reason that he would have ordinarily contented himself with simply sitting back and observing, given that the average individual would likely not pick up on all the subtle details that he did.

Katsuki Bakugo was not what one could refer to as an "average individual" however, and so Mezo had found it necessary to intervene when Midoriya was in danger of blowing his cover by making some half-baked excuse to go and see Uraraka after her match had ended. Mezo had briefly made eye-contact with Midoriya and shaken his head slightly, which had apparently been enough for the smaller boy to take the hint. He had quickly disguised his movements as him fishing his ever-present notebook out from wherever he kept it and had wished Mezo good luck in his match.

The match between Mezo and Ashido was to be postponed for a few minutes while Cementoss repaired the minor damage that Dark Shadow's talons had caused to the ring in the previous match, so Mezo was currently making his way to one of the waiting rooms. Before he could open the door, however, he had heard Uraraka's voice and had reflexively started listening. She seemed to be on the phone with someone. A man, judging by the voice on the other end, though Mezo could not make out precisely what was being said.

"Yeah, I know, Daddy. I just wish I could've made it a bit further, you know? It's not every day a chance like this comes around, after all…" she trailed off while the man on the other end, apparently her father, responded in a hearty tone, "I know, right? I knew the video had gotten around, but I never thought I'd actually have _fans_! If I'm being honest, I'd probably be a lot more torn up about my loss if it hadn't been for them."

There was another pause as she listened to her father, followed by an exasperated huff.

"Daddy! I told you that I'll introduce you to him soon! We're trying to keep things low-key at the moment; you guys and his mom are the only ones who know. Well…apart from one of our friends who might have figured it out, but he's not the type to spread it around. Yes, I know Mom wants to meet him too. No, I don't know exactly when. No, I haven't met his mom either."

There was another pause and Mezo could practically see the scandalized look on Uraraka's face.

"No, Daddy, he is _not_ 'comforting me about my loss!' I am _not_ covering for him! Geez! I know that dads are supposed to be suspicious of their daughter's boyfriends, but this is ridiculous! I'm hanging up now!"

Another pause.

"…Yeah. I love you too, Daddy. Tell Mom too, okay? I've gotta get back to the stands so I don't miss the next match; two of my friends are in it. No, one of them is _not_ him! You know what? Just for that I'm _not_ telling you, so _there_! Figure it out on your own!" the call was ended and Mezo heard Uraraka sigh.

Mezo took that opportunity to enter the waiting room.

"Uraraka-san, how are your injuries?"

"Gah! Shoji-kun!" it was all Mezo could do to stop himself from chuckling as she nearly jumped out of her skin, "How much did you…wait, I guess it doesn't matter how much you heard, does it?"

"I only arrived a few moments ago and heard the latter portion of your conversation." he answered anyway, "I can verify that nobody else was around to overhear you, though you may want to be careful what you talk about on-campus if you truly do wish to keep things a secret."

"Yeah, I know." she had the good grace to look slightly abashed.

"Additionally, you may want to be a bit less…bold…about dragging Midoriya away for a private moment."

She pinked up at that, but did not respond further, which only served to give Mezo a few extra ideas about exactly _what_ she had pulled Midoriya aside to do. He might very well have to revise his assessment of exactly how daring Ochako Uraraka was capable of being.

"My injuries are fine." she answered his original question, "They weren't really that bad and Recovery Girl was able to fix me up in a few seconds." Mezo nodded in satisfaction at this.

" _Alright, it looks like Cementoss is just about done servicing the ring, so would our next two combatants please stand by!"_

"That would be my cue." Mezo stated.

"Good luck, Shoji-kun!" Uraraka smiled at him as she exited the room, "I'll be rooting for Mina-chan too, of course, but good luck anyway!"

Mezo nodded in appreciation and proceeded down the hall to the entrance to the field.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The stands buzzed with excitement that ran the gamut from discussions of the previous match, wagers on the next one, speculation as to the outcome and all the way to general excitement from those who were happy just to be there. The combined cacophony, when filtered through the entrance tunnel that Mezo currently occupied, was distorted in to an echoing roar of noise that seemed to deliberately fill the air with energy.

It wasn't often that he showed his status as the youngest member of Class 1-A, but Mezo found himself taking a long, slow breath to calm himself. It was well that he did, as immediately after he began his exhale, the announcement he had been waiting for was given.

" _ALRIGHT! Thank you for your patience, Listeners! It is now time to begin! Match Two: He's larger-than-life in both appearance and power! He'd be formidable with just two arms, but this contender has_ SIX _! Let's hear it for Mezo Shoji!"_

Mezo took his cue and walked out onto the field to a mixture of applause and gasps of recognition. This was to be expected, he supposed. After all, the memory of "Infinity Girl" was still fresh in the audience's minds; it wasn't a stretch to imagine they might remember her opponent as well.

"Hey, that's him, right?"

"Who else could it be?"

"Dr. Vertigo's monster, right? Is it safe for him to be here?"

"Dude, it was just a video. He was playing a part."

" _And now for his opponent! Don't let her playful pink demeanor fool you: if you let your guard down, she'll melt you down to your very bones! She's Mina Ashido!"_

As Mezo had expected, Ashido seemed to be completely in her element. She made a show of smiling and waving to the crowd as she approached the ring and, judging from the volume of the applause, they were eating it up.

Some people were just natural-born crowd pleasers. Mezo had known this for some time, but he would be lying if he said a small part of himself didn't envy them for it. After all, it was just common sense that, in the head of the moment, someone who looked so much like a Villain would be harder to trust.

" _We all have our roles to play. Simply do what you can and your soul shall be at peace."_

Each time Mezo remembered this quote, it seemed to take on just a bit more meaning for him.

 _Well, for now I should focus on winning this match, I suppose._

"You ready, Shoji?" Ashido had one hand resting on her cocked hip as she smirked at him from across the ring, "I'm taking this seriously, I hope you know."

"I am also aiming for victory, Ashido-san. Do not expect to escape unscathed."

 _Whether this plan succeeds or not, I know that_ I _, at least, shall have no such luxury._

That was the crux of the matter: Mezo knew that Ashido was faster than him and had a longer reach, objectively speaking. There was simply no way that he would be able to close the distance without taking some hits from her acid and, given that he was a flesh-and-blood fighter, this would inevitably result in him taking damage.

"Everyone talks about winning and losing, but this doesn't really feel like a game, you know?" the pink contestant scratched her cheek with an index finger.

"I suppose it depends on your perspective."

"Alright, that's enough chit-chat! Shoji, are you ready?" Midnight got things back on-track.

"I am."

"Ashido, are you ready?"

"You bet!"

"Very well. Take your stances…and BEGIN!"

Mezo wasted no time in charging his opponent, arms spread wide. Ashido had clearly been expecting this, as she already had a handful of acid ready and waiting for him. She threw it with a wide motion, causing it to spread outwards in a crescent-shaped wave that Mezo was forced to leap over. Anticipating her next action, he tucked and rolled and was rewarded with the sound of a second batch of acid splashing onto the cement tiles behind him. A burning sensation told him that a few flecks must have struck one of his arms. A quick flick was sufficient to dislodge it, but it left behind a few small patches of burnt-looking skin.

As he regained his feet, Mezo saw that Ashido had stayed in motion during the exchange and was now located further back and off to the side, clearly intent on circling around him. She was sliding across the ring, using the acid secreted from her feet to "skate" more quickly than she could run.

 _As expected: I have no chance of overtaking her under these circumstances. It was worth a try, I suppose. Now all that remains is to grit my teeth and take it._

"I will give you one chance to surrender, Ashido-san. I would really rather not have to do this."

"You didn't strike me as the joking type, Shoji!"

"An accurate observation."

Then Mezo charged. Ashido wasted no time in hurling more acid at him, clearly expecting a repeat of their initial exchange.

Mezo imagined that she was rather surprised, then, when he did not change course in the slightest.

It was a little-known fact about Dupli-Arms that they were not actually arms when in their natural state. Indeed, it was more accurate to describe them as tentacles. Each tentacle had a node on the end of it that could be made to replicate various body parts. It was true that this was most commonly used for hands, eyes, ears or even mouths, but that was far from its limit. It could also be made to, for instance, duplicate _itself_ and _then_ duplicate an arm. The result of this hypothetical trickery would be an extruded limb that was not only longer than the original, but almost completely expendable.

Mezo was pleased that this hypothetical use turned out to be feasible in the middle of combat. He was less pleased that this did not cause the acid eating away at his flesh to hurt any less.

" _HOLY CRAP, Listeners! In what was either a moment of inspiration or a moment of madness, contestant Shoji has charged straight into Ashido's acid! It doesn't look as though he's enjoying it too much either!"_

Indeed, the sudden pain had caused Mezo's body to rebel against him and cut his speed in an attempt to get away from the source. He had regained control, but not before Ashido had fled to the other end of the ring, clearly taken aback by his actions.

 _I didn't expect the pain to be so great…it truly does feel as though my flesh is being eaten away._

Mezo whipped his duplicated limb, causing the acid to fly off of it before he retracted it, leaving his standard arm in its place, looking as though it had been burnt.

"Shoji, are you INSANE?!" his opponent was clearly shaken.

"I took a calculated risk, Ashido-san." Mezo replied, "I know that you are capable of producing very powerful acid, but I also knew that you would not risk using lethal methods during a match like this."

"So, just because it won't kill you, it doesn't matter? You could still end up really hurt if it hits you the wrong way, you know, even _with_ me dialing back the corrosiveness."

"I am acting with full understanding of this. Feel free to surrender if you do not think that you can stomach it."

He charged again, generating six extended arms as he did so.

Ashido's eyes narrowed and her lips parted in a snarl.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Shoji; just because I don't _want_ to hurt you doesn't mean I _won't_."

There was acid running down her exposed forearms and pooling in her hands, forming a pair of viscous globs. Drops of acid hissed against the concrete as she raised her arms.

"If you won't give up, then I'll have to _make_ you give up! ACID BURST!" she brought her hands together, causing the globs of acid to explode violently outwards.

Mezo had miscalculated. There were too many projectiles for him to block them all with his duplicated limbs. He would have to prioritize his vital areas.

Eyes. Throat. Chest. Groin. Thighs. Mezo reflexively shifted his guard to these six areas just before he ran full-tilt into Ashido's attack.

The pain was similar to the first time while still being entirely different. It was clear that multiple points of contact made it more difficult to focus. Mezo's instinct was to grit his teeth, tense his muscles and roll on the ground until the acid was off of him.

But he couldn't. If he slowed down again, then Ashido would just escape again. Eventually, he would be unable to continue.

" _We all have our roles to play. Simply do what you can and your soul will be at peace."_

" _I shall carry out his vendetta against this city, even at the cost of my own life!"_

 _That. I need_ that _sort of resolve now. Well, if we all have roles to play…_

"RRROOOOOAAAAAHHHHHH!"

… _then I suppose I should play the one that everyone is expecting me to play!_

A primal scream that dulled his pain, an all-out charge with arms spread wide even as the acid clinging to his limbs was flung away and all of his willpower was laser-focused on the would-be Hero in front of him.

His opponent hesitated for the slightest instant before dashing towards him and attempting to leap over him, acid building in one of her hands as she did so.

Later, Mezo would review the footage of the match and realize the reason for her hesitation:

In that moment, with patches of clothing burnt away, unnaturally long limbs spread wide and eyes full of madness, he looked positively _bestial_.

In that moment, as he flared his arms and made an updraft-assisted leap, seizing Ashido's legs with two of his elongated right arms, he was truly worthy of being considered Dr. Vertigo's monster.

In that moment, as he whirled around and flung his opponent clear of the ring and onto the comparably-soft ground outside of it, Mezo felt a strange sense of tranquility. Even though his external visage suggested that he was consumed with fury, he was overcome with a profound sense of internal calm. He was in the proverbial eye of the storm, able to look out and behold its majesty without being consumed by it.

" _Lo, and I shall bear witness to this fury. I shall allow it to pass around and through me, that I might look upon its passing and know it in its entirety. Where the rage has passed, there will be nothing. Only I shall remain."_

Mezo was only passively aware of Midnight and Present Mic announcing his victory and the crowd applauding him as he retracted his extended limbs and looked upon his damaged hands, clenching and unclenching them as he experienced his own pain as though it were not his.

 _I suppose this is what is meant by "mind over matter?" That or It's the adrenalin. That could be it._

 _Either way, I should see Recovery Girl._

"Shoji, did you pass out while standing?" Midnight was tapping the side of his face with her whip as she looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow.

"Ah, no, Midnight-sensei. I was lost in thought. I am going to see Recovery Girl now."

"Good idea. Maybe you clipped your head at some point."

With that, Mezo exited the field.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Eijiro Kirishima was conflicted. On the one hand, Shoji had just put on an incredibly manly display of pure guts and willpower. There was no question that he deserved his victory after a showing like that. On the other hand, Mina had lost, which meant that they wouldn't be able to meet up in the semifinals like they had promised.

The arena was damaged, which meant that they would be spending some time fixing it, right?

Enough time?

Had to be. He didn't need long.

"I'd better go get ready for my fight. You guys hold down the fort, yeah?"

He was given various responses from his classmates which ranged from "Good luck!" to "Who do you think you're talking to, dumbass?" as he hurriedly left the stands.

It was bad luck. It was nothing more than bad luck and he needed to make sure she knew that. Two losses back-to-back in the same day…Eijiro didn't think that Mina was weak or anything like that, but chances were good that she wasn't taking it well.

They were told to leave their phones and stuff in the waiting room, right? She was second in the bracket, which meant that she would have gone to waiting room two. She hadn't really taken any damage during her fight, so if she had gone to Recovery Girl, she wouldn't be long. Hell, Mina was tough; chances were good she hadn't gone to Recovery Girl anyway.

With that logic, Eijiro made his way to the second waiting room and was rewarded with the sight of Mina's phone on the table. His horn buddy was nowhere to be seen, so she must have gone to see Recovery Girl after all.

"Hey, Ei."

…OR, she might have been leaning against the wall next to the door. Probably would have scared the crap out of him if Eijiro hadn't been looking for her in the first place. He gave the door a gentle shove, causing it to close with a click before he turned to face her properly, taking a couple of seconds to finalize what he wanted to say.

"You doing alright, Mina?"

"Back hurts a little bit." she shrugged, her expression neutral, "I rolled with the fall, so it's not too bad."

"You put up a hell of a fight. I don't think anybody expected Shoji to do something like that."

"It didn't matter in the end though."

She didn't have her usual sparkle in her eyes. All of the energy and life that defined who Mina Ashido was seemed to have just up and left. She wasn't sad like she had been after the USJ incident; this was different. It seemed like she had just…given up.

To Eijiro, this was almost worse. No, strike that, it _was_ worse.

"Mina." her gaze remained downcast, "Mina, look at me." he lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze, "It's not your fault. The thing with Tetsutetsu wasn't your fault either."

"That's the kind of thing you say to someone just to make them feel better, but it's never true, is it?" she tried to smile, but all it did was make her look sad, "How could it _not_ have been my fault, Ei? They were both one-on-one. Just me and my opponent, but I lost both times."

"It was just bad luck."

Those words had roughly the opposite of the effect that Eijiro had intended. Mina shoved his arm away, clearly upset.

"'Bad luck?' What kind of pathetic excuse is _that_ supposed to be? What kind of loser would I be if I blamed _luck_?!"

She pushed past him, going for her phone on the table.

 _I can't let her leave like this!_

Eijiro grabbed her upper arm, stopping Mina in her tracks. She tried to pull away from him, but he didn't let go.

"Let me go!"

"I'm telling you, neither of those was your fault! How could you have known you were paired off against the _one_ guy your strategy with the flag wouldn't have worked against? How could you have known that Shoji would just power through your acid like that? What were you supposed to do, melt him down to his bones or something?!"

"It doesn't _matter_!" she yelled, her voice breaking as she did so, "Heroes deal with the unexpected every single day! If I can't even cope with stuff like that _now_ , how am I supposed to when it's someone's _life_ on the line?!"

"That's why we're _here_ , Mina!" Eijiro shouted back, "We're _not_ Heroes yet! It's easy to forget that sometimes, what with the costumes and the exercises and everything, but the fact of the matter is that we're not Heroes and you know what? Nobody expects us to be. Not when we haven't even completed a full term yet."

"How many times do I get to screw up before people realize that it's something wrong with _me_?!" she was openly crying at this point, "Kurogiri got away because of _me_. Tetsutetsu got the flag because of _me._ I choked in front of all those people, lost the match and broke our promise _because of me, Ei!_ " she pounded her free fist against his chest, punctuating her statements.

Eijiro released her arm and moved his hand to the back of her head, planting her forehead against his collar. One of her horns caught him on the cheek as he did this, but he ignored the sting.

"We're supposed to screw up. We're _supposed_ to fail. We're supposed to fall flat on our faces, eat shit and then get up and keep going. 'If you wanna be a Hero, then fail as hard as possible while you're still young. Make every single mistake you can, that way when it's go time for real, you don't gotta to worry about making a single one.'" Eijiro chuckled a bit after he said that, "I can't take credit for that last bit, since Crimson Riot said it, but you get it, right?"

Mina grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as she took deep, shaky breaths.

"But…we promised…"

"Sure, it sucks that we won't be able to meet in the semifinals, but that was all so one of us could stand at the top, right? As long as I go out there and win, then our promise still stands!"

"…Okay." she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, "I'll hold you to that, Ei. You better not lose against the same guy that I lost against, or we're both sunk." Eijiro returned her embrace, jaw set and eyes sharp.

"I won't. I give you my word as a man."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

" _My sincerest apologies for all the downtime spent fixing the ring, Listeners! Let's now get the third match underway! This one promises to be a real knock-down drag-out manly brawl, so those of you who like that kind of thing, make sure not to touch that dial! And if your TV has a dial, it's probably worth a TON of money to an antiques collector, so you should probably look into that afterwards!"_

" _Since my co-host seems to have gotten off-topic, the third match is Eijiro Kirishima versus Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. Both of you get out here."_

" _Shota! That's not how you're supposed to introduce the fighters! Where's your sense of drama?!"_

" _It took one look at yours and shot itself in the head."_

Eijiro and his opponent entered the ring at the same time and stood across from each other, sizing each other up. All-told, they were of a similar build. Tetsutetsu might have been an inch or so taller.

"Hey, you better not hold anything back here, 1-A." Tetsutetsu said, baring his sharp teeth that so closely resembled Eijiro's, "If I'm gonna prove that all you are is a copy of me, then I don't want you making any excuses afterwards."

"If there's a copy here, then it's not me." Eijiro might ordinarily have risen to a taunt like that, but he couldn't afford to right then. "I gave my word as a man that I would win this, so you don't stand a chance in hell against me right now."

Tetsutetsu's grin faded at that. He studied Eijiro with a curious look in his eyes before furrowing his brow and nodding curtly.

"I see. If it's like that, then I need to go all-out from the get-go, huh?"

"Kirishima, are you ready?"

"Yeah, Midnight-sensei."

"Tetsutetsu, are you ready?"

"Let's get this thing going."

"Very good. Take your stances…and BEGIN!"

Eijiro shot towards his opponent, arm cocked back as he engaged his full-body hardening even as his opponent's skin took on the gray sheen of steel as he mirrored Eijiro's pose. Neither slowed down before they collided in the center of the ring, fists smashing into each other's faces, causing their heads to jerk to the side before they immediately recovered and went on the offensive again.

In spite of the taunts that they exchanged, saying things like "You'll have to do better than that!" or "That didn't hurt!" Eijiro had to admit that Tetsutetsu's blows were starting to take their toll on him. He was every bit as strong as Eijiro himself was, and every bit as solid from what he could tell, if not more so.

 _This won't work. If I'm going to win, I can't just attack wildly. Remember what Bakugo and Ojiro have been drilling into that thick skull of yours, Riot!_

Suddenly, a hardened fist flashed out and nailed Tetsutetsu in the face, causing his head to jerk back slightly, but seeming to lack the force of Eijiro's previous blows.

"What's the problem? You getting tired? That one was weaker than the others!" he retaliated with a heavy straight that struck against Eijiro's raised forearm before he was struck in the face by yet another sharp blow.

" _Oh? What's this, Listeners? Kirishima seems to have changed his movements all of a sudden!"_

"Seriously, what's with these weak-ass punches?!" Tetsutetsu was clearly growing frustrated as another of his blows was caught by Eijiro's guard before he was struck in the face yet again by Eijiro's left, "You won't get anywhere with those!" he launched a haymaker at Eijiro, intending to break through his guard, but he was met with a surprise.

 ***CLANG***

Eijiro had not blocked this time. Instead, he had swayed his head to the side, stepped in and nailed Tetsutetsu full in the face with a full-body strike, sending him crashing to the floor.

" _WHOA-HO! Was that a cross-counter?!"_

That was, in fact, exactly what it was.

"Cross-counter, huh?" Tetsutetsu regained his feet and cracked his neck, "Didn't know you were a boxer. Why hide it until now if you're so determined to win, huh?"

"Honestly, it's not how I prefer to do things." Eijiro responded, rolling his shoulders, "I'm all about having a good old-fashioned brawl, but, as my friends have shown me, that's not always the best call."

"'Swallow your pride and do what's best,' huh?" Tetsutetsu sighed and bounced on the balls of his feet, "Guess I should probably do the same."

He dashed forwards with an overhead hammer fist, which Eijiro sidestepped before being caught in the gut by a vicious knee.

"You see, you're not the only one with smart friends. I've got a few of those myself." a follow-up hook sent Eijiro to the ground, his last-second guard not having been enough to absorb all of the impact.

" _This appears to be the match of hidden depths, Listeners! Tetsutetsu is now moving completely differently than he was before!"_

 _Heh…I guess we really are similar, huh? Here I thought I could get the upper hand on him by using an actual style, but he's got one too…go figure._

Eijiro stood back up and took a deep breath, reinforcing his Quirk as much as possible.

 _Forget saving anything for the upcoming matches; I need to give this everything I've got right here, right now!_

Eijiro put his guard up, bent his knees and dashed towards his opponent. He was met with a hook, which he ducked before retaliating with an uppercut. Tetsutetsu rolled with the blow, striking out wildly with his leg as he went down and smashing it against Eijiro's guard, knocking him off-balance long enough for Tetsutetsu to recover.

Block. Dodge. Body. Body. Head. Counter. Block. Eijiro's conscious mind was practically non-existent save for the most basic of reactionary thoughts. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, he began to understand the fundamental difference between Tetsutetsu and himself.

If he had been asked, Eijiro would likely not have been able to put it into words, but he could see it on a basic, essential level: he had been focusing on improving his speed and technique to augment his power while Tetsutetsu had evidently doubled-down on the power and gained enough technique to help him leverage it. That was likely why he seemed to be mixing moves together almost randomly as the situation called for it.

Eijiro was by no means an experienced boxer. He had only been training in earnest for just under a month. It would, under most circumstances, be considered odd for him to be able to read and react to his opponent's moves as well as he was currently doing. In terms of overall technique, the pair of them were more or less equal, with Eijiro having a slight edge due to his moveset being from a single style of fighting, thus making it more cohesive.

The difference was speed. Tetsutetsu's moves, while destructive and accurate, lacked the snap that Eijiro's had. This led to him telegraphing many of his moves unnecessarily, which allowed Eijiro's inexperienced mind the extra fraction of a second it required to formulate the appropriate response.

As Ojiro would later say, he could hardly have asked for a better opponent at that point in his development.

 _Sharper. Faster. Stronger. He's gonna kick me next._

… _Why hasn't it hit yet? Did I see it coming that far in advance? Could I have countered it? Could I_ still _counter it?_

Unfortunately, the inexperienced mind is prone to questioning itself and, failing to commit to a single course of action, attempts two simultaneously, inevitably leading to failure. In Eijiro's momentary lapse in judgement, he attempted to step in and strike at Tetsutetsu's exposed torso before the kick could land. Unfortunately for him, he had acted too late and Tetsutetsu, having divined this course of action through means known only to himself, had feinted with the kick, turning it into a knee instead, which connected with Eijiro's side just as his fist connected with Tetsutetsu's gut.

While Tetsutetsu had the edge in raw power, Eijiro's step-in had given him the advantage of momentum. The punch was not as clean or as deep as it could have been, but Eijiro's full weight had been behind it in the instant before he was sent to the ground by Tetsutetsu's knee.

" _A dual exchange?! No! Kirishima is on the ground while Tetsutetsu is still standing! The man of steel clearly has the edge!"_

" _That depends."_

" _On what, Shota?"_

" _On whether Kirishima is able to keep this match going or not. In case you haven't noticed, he's been getting in two or three strikes for every one of Tetsutetsu's. The question then becomes 'Is each of Tetsutetsu's strikes doing two or three times as much damage to Kirishima as Kirishima's strikes are doing to him?' This match could still go either way."_

 _I've been…hitting him more? I guess I have. He hits like a freaking truck though, even_ with _Hardening…_

… _have I been hurting him? He's still standing. He hasn't gone down except for that one time._

 _He_ did _go down though, and that's all I need to know!_

Eijiro stood up again, noticing that Tetsutetsu had been waiting for him. Apparently, another thing the two of them shared was their sense of fair play.

If Eijiro wasn't careful, he might actually start to like the guy.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Five minutes later, the fight was still going and Mina Ashido was on the edge of her seat. She had known that Tetsutetsu was strong from seeing him in action during the previous events, but the idea that he was such a force to be reckoned with was more than she had expected. He had knocked Ei down a total of four times now while Ei had only downed him once at the beginning.

"Damn!" Bakugo was apparently thinking something similar, "After that cross-counter at the beginning, I thought he had this in the bag, but he's been getting his shit kicked in ever since that steel bastard decided to take him seriously! What's his deal?!"

"That cross-counter was a best-case scenario punch." Ojiro said with his arms crossed, watching the fight below with an intense gaze.

"What do you mean?" Mina inquired.

"He means that the steel bastard practically handed it over to him on a silver fucking platter." Bakugo snapped.

"You see, Ashido-san," Ojiro elaborated, "there are three important components to performing a successful counter. First, you have to know the type of attack that your opponent is going to use. Second, you have to know when your opponent is going to use that attack. Third, you have to know the correct type of move to counter this attack with."

"Oh!" apparently this had lit up a lightbulb for Midoriya, "Tetsutetsu-san was only using straights!"

"That's right." Ojiro agreed, "After each of Kirishima-san's jabs, he would attack with a left straight, trying to break Kirishima-san's guard. When your opponent only uses a single attack in such a predictable way, the first two requirements are easily fulfilled. As for the third, well, a straight is always the first technique one learns to counter, since it's such a staple. Of course, what Kirishima-san did was more of a hook than a true cross, but since he stepped in so far, it did the job just fine."

Mina understood and it didn't help her to feel better about the situation.

"But, Tetsutetsu's been using all sorts of different attacks! How is he supposed to counter him now?"

"He's not." Bakugo stated bluntly, "A counter is a tough thing to pull off and it's really risky if you do it wrong. Against an ordinary person, that might not be such a bad idea for Kirishima since he could just power through it, but against someone who practically has the same Quirk as him? Forget it."

"How's he supposed to win then, Bakugo?!" Mina snapped at him, causing him to shoot her a sideways glance with a raised eyebrow.

"Weren't you listening to Aizawa? He's wearing him down, or at least he's _trying_ to."

"He's faster than Tetsutetsu-san is." Midoriya explained, "He's been landing more attacks than his opponent has. They haven't been as strong individually, but the damage _has_ to be piling up on him."

"He's been making almost no effort to block Kirishima-san's strikes because he doesn't see them as a threat." Ojiro concurred, "Trust me when I say that's a mistake. Kirishima-san is doing exactly what he's supposed to do in a situation like this: he's playing to his strengths. Namely, his endurance."

"Endurance? But he's being taken apart!" Mina protested.

"It seemed that way during his fight with me during the Battle Trial too, didn't it?" Ojiro smirked, "I poured on the gas in order to finish him off quickly, but he just kept fighting back, didn't he? If you ask me, the one in trouble here is Tetsutetsu."

" _DOWN! TETSUTETSU IS DOWN!"_

"What?!" Mina's head spun around so fast that she nearly gave herself whiplash.

"What did I tell you? The real fight starts now."

* * *

 **Well, that's another fight that I didn't expect to have go on for so long, but Tetsutetsu had to go and take a level in badass. I just couldn't justify Eijiro's classmates recognizing that he needs to improve his fighting style without also recognizing that people such as Kendo, Monoma or Honenuki would probably come to similar conclusions about Tetsutetsu. The main difference here is that Eijiro has an expert like Ojiro teaching him. How will this impact the outcome of the fight? Find out next time!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	35. Chapter 34: A Good Kind of Weird

**Not much to say this week. Stuff is still good, you guys are still great and we're making some good progress here. I'll re-iterate both here and down below that there will not be a chapter next week due to Xmas stuff on my end. I'll be out-of-state for the entire weekend, so I won't be able to write until the week after.**

 **Review time:**

 **Slayer76, uchihaNaruto247, Naruffoku, avidreaded, Jack Inqu, The 0bservanc3, D3lph0xL0v3r, C_J_Robbins : I'm glad that people are liking the enhanced version of the Eijiro vs. Tetsutetsu fight. I really wanted to take this one and shake it up given Eijiro's bigger role in this story. Hopefully you all enjoy the conclusion!  
**

 **Mrguy22594 : I feel like Ojiro is either underappreciated or underpowered in canon. If the guy's whole shtick is martial arts, then he should probably be, you know, _good at martial arts_. It makes no sense to me that 1-A isn't taking more advantage of this fact, but I guess stuff like that is why I'm writing Torchbearer so...thank you canon?**

 **Reverseflash : The Overhaul arc will indeed be different. I won't claim that I've gotten as far as actively planning it out yet (we've still got a TON of ground to cover before then), but it _will_ be different.**

 **avidreaded : Present Mic and Aizawa have indeed been giving more commentary than what I show here. I'm trying to strike a balance where they show up often, but not SO often that they interrupt the pacing of the story. OFA does indeed tweak itself a bit for each wielder. It's a living, evolving Quirk after all. There will be more development with Fight Club for sure.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : I don't mind the long reviews. In fact, I like them!**

 **I do enjoy working with Mezo. I'm not sure about the inhalation hazard on some acids. Since it hasn't been brought up in canon, I think I'll steer clear of that. There's a lot of potential for friendly fire there. Mezo certainly has a limit on how many duplications he can do at once, but here he's only doing six which should be within his limit at this point. If he started trying to increase his overall number of limbs or something a-la Octo Blows as seen in canon, then he'd have some issues until he's trained more. Yeah, the mixture of thoughts and flashbacks can get a bit weird at times. The quote marks are the key for sure. I also have to be really careful when I'm using both electronic voices and flashback voices in close proximity to each other, since they're formatted the same.**

 **I constantly worry that I'm putting Mina through too much and it looks like I'm picking on her or something. It's good to see that nobody else seems to think this though, so maybe I'm just being paranoid. When it comes to Eijiro, I try to make him sort of the poster boy for the various aspects of "manliness." After all, being manly doesn't just mean being big, strong and confident: it also means being honorable, reliable and steadfast to those you care for, among other things. I do agree that the dynamic with the Big Three should be different given all that's happened.**

 **As for my martial arts stuff, it's a split. I did have formal training for some years (I forget exactly how many) in Taang Soo Do, which is related to Tai Kwon Do. In that time I also got some basic weapons training in things like the bo staff, kama, club, nunchaku and spear. Aside from that, I've done some training on my own with various things that seemed fun/interesting, so it's given me a bit of insight into how certain moves might flow together (when I'm not sure if something would work, I'll just get up and do it). For things I'm not sure of, yeah, I head straight for the internet.**

 **CaedmonCousland : There's certainly something to be said for the psychological/intimidation factor, especially against less-experienced types of opponents. I'm inclined to agree with your idea that 1-B has some sort of training outline for everyone in class. With people like Monoma, Kendo and Honenuki in the class, it just makes all kinds of sense to me.**

 **For sure a good jab cannot be underestimated and I totally agree that the "snap" factor can be just as much (if not more) of a factor than actual damage depending on how they're applied. I've seen some people with jabs that are more like straights at times. In fact, that was a sort of game that I would use in spars sometimes. I'd use my left for mostly jabs so they'd be brushed off or ignored sometimes. When that happened, I'd put my shoulder in it and nail 'em with a straight instead.**

 **I'm pretty much treating it exactly like you theorized: their Quirks and overall endurance help to reduce flinching from light attacks. The way I view Tetsutetsu as opposed to Kirishima is actually pretty straightforward: Kirishima's hardness is variable while Tetsutetsu's is constant. He's just...steel. Steel is steel. He can't just will himself into becoming harder like Kirishima can, but on the same note, his Quirk isn't dependent on his mental state. While this does mean that Kirishima might have a higher peak strength depending on his condition and how revved up he is at the time, Tetsutetsu's output is far, _far_ more consistent. It's not a stretch at all to think that he would have the advantage over Kirishima, especially at this point before he figures out how to use Unbreakable. As for exactly _how_ the damage reduction works...I don't really have an answer for you on that apart from what I've already said. I do know that Steel and Hardening both serve to improve their offense as well as their defense, which explains how they can actually damage each other.**

 **Eramis8, ILiekFishes, CodeTalker69, Jack Inqu, Ezylryb, yousifkadri12 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's pick up where we left off, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four: A Good Kind of Weird

" _Listeners, I apologize if my commentary has been slightly less frequent as this match has progressed, but at this point I, like many of you, am simply awed by the sheer_ tenacity _on display here! Shota, how long has it been, exactly?"_

" _About twelve minutes. That's four rounds for those of you who prefer to think of things that way."_

" _Well, it's no wonder that they're starting to look tired! Twelve minutes might not sound that long to most people, but it's an_ eternity _in a fight! Isn't that right?"_

" _It's a long time, yeah. Especially when you're going full-bore the whole time with no rest. It probably doesn't feel that way to those two though; they're so focused on the opponent in front of them that time probably doesn't have much meaning at the moment."_

" _Ah! You mean they're in a battle trance?"_

This commentary was not because the fight happening on the arena below was uninteresting, unexciting or anything of that nature; it was simply due to the fact that there were only so many ways Present Mic could think to say "He got hit! He got hit again! He's down! He's up! He's returning the favor!"

The fight between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu had reached an equilibrium of sorts during the past four or five minutes. Where Tetsutetsu had initially seemed to have the edge, his second down at the hands of Kirishima had signaled a shift in the flow of the match whereby Kirishima was gradually reclaiming his lost momentum. It was a subtle process, insofar as two young men doing their best to beat each other senseless could be considered subtle.

To the layperson, it appeared as though Kirishima had found some sort of second wind and was powering through Tetsutetsu's attacks with sheer grit and while this was not altogether inaccurate, the reality of the situation was far more predictable for the more experienced or knowledgeable combatants in the crowd: residual damage. Tetsutetsu's attacks were individually much more impressive and brutal than Kirishima's, but the fact remained that Kirishima had landed around three times as many attacks over the course of the fight and what few big attacks he _had_ landed were impressive in their own right.

It was a textbook strategy: keep your guard up and wear down your opponent with quick, sharp blows over time. When they give you an opening, take it, but don't get greedy. Rinse and repeat until they stay down. It was tried and true, proven to work time and again against all manner of opponents over the centuries.

Unfortunately, such a defensive strategy did not suit the tastes of Eijiro Kirishima. Under ordinary circumstances, he never would have used it. It was much more like him to charge forward and have a man-to-man slugfest until one of them dropped. From what Tetsutetsu had said and shown, it seemed as though he held a similar sense of distaste for any form of combat that wasn't direct and to the point. He was a kindred spirit and it stuck in both of their craws that they couldn't simply fight the way they wanted; the way men were _supposed_ to fight.

No, it had been a complete and absolute sense of _necessity_ that had caused Eijiro to bend his knees, raise his guard and do everything in his power to systematically dismantle his opponent one jab at a time.

He wasn't sure whether he should be feeling good or not about the fact that it seemed to be _working_.

 _Bite it, Riot. The only reason that you had to resort to this is because you aren't strong enough to take him head-to-head and have a guaranteed win. You made a promise to Mina as a man that you would win and that means that you_ have _to win…no matter what it takes._

It was in this way that Eijiro hardened both his resolve and his body anew.

A pair of swift jabs, a blow to the body and a retaliatory strike to the side of his face that caused his head to snap around and his foot to shoot out in order to catch him before he fell yet again. Eijiro rose and delivered a blow to Tetsutetsu's liver as he did so, but he could feel that it hadn't been clean.

 _Damn…bastard rung my bell with that last one…I'm not used to feeling this beat up anymore…_

There had been a time when Eijiro had lived the majority of his days in a haze of torn muscles and bruised bones as he worked to strengthen both his Quirk and his body. Pain had been a constant companion to him, serving as proof of both the work he had done and the distance that he had yet to cover. Eventually, he had found that the aches weren't quite as deep and didn't last quite as long. The day had eventually come where he had completed his usual exercises and found that he was in almost no pain at all, in spite of having just finished slamming his head repeatedly into a brick wall among other things.

It was not as though Eijiro had not felt pain in recent memory; the Battle Trial against Ojiro, USJ and, of course, Fight Club had all left him with no doubt that he had been in a rough fight, but against Tetsutetsu his entire body felt like one big bruise in spite of his Hardening. Eijiro had no doubt that if he let up on his Quirk for even a moment that the next time he went down he wouldn't be getting back up.

In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, Eijiro had the sudden impulse to step inside of his opponent's range even though every time he did so out of turn he was inevitably nailed with something or other.

But nothing happened. As his body followed his muscle memory and threw a haymaker at his opponent, Eijiro saw that Tetsutetsu was being slow to react for some reason. In spite of how telegraphed his punch was, the steel man was making no attempt to avoid it.

 _What's he doing?_

His fist was nearing its target, yet there was still no reaction.

 _Why isn't he moving?_

It would hit any moment.

 _Get out of the way, dumbass! Do you_ want _to go down?!_

* **CLANG** *

The impact reverberated through Eijiro's fist, down his arm, into his shoulder and through his back. All of his weight had been behind that one and, judging from how Tetsutetsu's body was sailing through the air, he had taken every single ounce of it straight to the face.

Present Mic was screaming his head off and the crowd was going wild, but Eijiro wasn't paying attention to any of the noise apart from the sound of his opponent hitting the concrete surface of the ring and skidding to a stop just within the bounds.

"How…how did that hit? Why did that work?" Eijiro couldn't stop himself from asking even though he was sure that nobody else heard him. His jaw felt heavy and his lips felt awkward as he formed the words, as though he were talking through some sort of thick syrup.

A sudden outcry from the onlookers brought his attention back to reality just in time to realize that Tetsutetsu's Quirk was still visibly active and that he was pushing himself up off the ground.

Eijiro knew that he should rush over and slam his opponent out of the ring while he still had the chance. He knew that, as things stood, his victory was practically guaranteed.

It was the smart thing to do.

It was the _right_ thing to do.

It was what he was _supposed_ to do for crying out loud!

But, as Eijiro locked eyes with his opponent one more time and received a knowing grin in return, he knew that he would regret it for the rest of his life if he sacrificed any more of his pride. This was the stage where he would show thousands of people just what sort of man Eijiro Kirishima was and he was _not_ the sort of man that would kick his opponent while he was down, especially not an opponent like Tetsutetsu.

No, he deserved honor. He deserved _respect_. He was mainly through and through and Eijiro _refused_ to taint their fight with underhanded tactics solely for the sake of his own victory, promise or no promise.

 _I'm sorry, Mina, but there are some things that a man just_ has _to do! If things go south here…I just hope you understand that._

"TETSUTETSUUUU!" he packed all of his inner conflict and resolve into that one shout, hoping that at least some of those who heard it would understand.

"KIRISHIMAAAA!" his opponent responded in kind and Eijiro knew as he saw the man of steel run at him, swaying drunkenly from side to side, that he understood and would pay him the same respect that he had just been shown.

This wasn't a fight that would be decided by anything less than a K.O., no matter how long it took.

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"Shota, I'm all for a knock-down drag-out brawl and there's no doubt that the crowd is eating it up, but if this keeps up…" Present Mic trailed off, having momentarily muted his microphone so he could speak with his co-host in privacy.

"Yeah, they're gonna be sore after this for sure." Shota responded in the same matter-of-fact tone he used for everything.

"Aren't you worried that they might go too far?"

"That's what Midnight and Cementoss are for. Honestly though? No. I think that we're subconsciously projecting ourselves onto our students when, in reality, they can take the sort of punishment that would kill any normal person and keep on swinging. Besides, I don't see this lasting much longer. The next one to go down will most likely _stay_ down."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because after a display like that, neither one is going to go down quite as easily anymore."

Present Mic turned his microphone back on as he finished processing what Shota had said to him.

"' _We're'_ projecting onto our students, eh, Shota? Not just me?"

"Shut up."

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Both fighters had abandoned any and all premise of strategy at this point. Perhaps it was due to them being too fired up to care anymore or perhaps it was because they were too fatigued to do anything besides just swing their fists, but the fight had seemingly come full circle.

 _I won't regret this…_

* **CLANG** *

 _No matter the outcome…_

* **CLANG** *

 _No matter what happens afterwards…_

* **CLANG** *

 _I'll hold my head high knowing that I gave it everything I had._

* **CLANG** *

 _I know I won't regret it…_

* **CLANG** *

 _I know that._

* **CLANG** *

 _I know that, but…_

* **CLANG** *

 _But…_

 ***CRACK** *

Eijiro felt his hardened skin finally crack as he exchanged yet another blow with Tetsutetsu. He had long lost count of how many there had been. He didn't even know how long they had been fighting for. It could have been five minutes or five hours. Time didn't mean anything in a fight like that.

Blood was running down his face from the wound he had sustained on his forehead, partially blinding him as it got into his left eye. Across from him, his opponent saw this and, excited by the possibility of victory within his grasp, he swung widely. _Too_ widely.

* **CRACK** *

 _I still wanna win!_

There hadn't been time to lift his arm and throw his fist. His legs were even more out of the question. That had only left Eijiro with one option: his head.

He was half-blind and his head was pounding, but he saw a crack in Tetsutetsu's armor as the man of steel reeled back, dazed from the sudden and unexpected counterattack.

 _This is it…I'm not gonna get another chance…and I can't take another hit…but my body doesn't wanna move…_

 _Mina…I'm sorry…I guess my word as a man isn't worth much after all…_

" _How're you gonna say 'sayonara' to your old self when you're pulling a gloomy face like that?!"_

" _I kept going on and on about 'manly spirit' and having a 'manly heart,' but in the end, when the chips were down, I was all talk. Forget being a Hero, I wasn't even a man."_

" _Kiri…you're so much stronger than I will ever be. So, please, don't talk about yourself that way."_

Snippets from various times were shooting through Eijiro's mind unbidden. Unconnected and yet closely related. It was as though his brain was trying to force him to realize something.

" _I'm saying that I hesitated for a second. My heart was weak, so I couldn't save 'em."_

" _Honestly, I always kind of envied you."_

" _You should all be completely disgusted with me right now."_

" _All of us wish that we had done something different…If I could go back and do things over, not just today, there's more than one thing that I'd do differently."_

" _How many times do I get to screw up before people realize that it's something wrong with_ me _?!"_

" _We're supposed to screw up. We're_ supposed _to fail."_

" _If I do that, then do you promise to keep being Eijiro Kirishima: the guy with more manliness in his thumb than most people have in their entire bodies and a way with words that really isn't fair given that he looks like a hood?"_

" _You don't have anything to worry about. As long as you're around, it'll all work out in the end, so you don't need to change a thing."_

" _I'll never regret my inaction ever again! I'm gonna be…a Hero who can protect people. I'm saying 'sayonara' to my pathetic old self!"_

Then there was one image, clearer than the others. It was of Mina just before their first day of U.A. She was giving him her trademark mischievous grin and leaning in conspiratorially.

" _Tell you what then: When you've actually overcome yourself, deep down, come and tell me, 'kay?"_

 _I still haven't. Not entirely. But…_

There was a grating sound as Eijiro desperately reached for every last drop of strength remaining in his body and forced himself to take one final step forward just as Tetsutetsu was starting to regain his balance.

 _With this step…I've at least crossed the starting line!_

"RAAAH!" Eijiro's mouth felt as though it might be slightly wider than usual as he let out his final battle cry and slammed his head once more into Tetsutetsu's.

There was no pain. His opponent's eyes widened for a moment before rolling back in his head as he dropped to the floor. The grating noise subsided as the last of Eijiro's strength left him. His Quirk deactivated as he fell to his knees, panting as Midnight ran over to Tetsutetsu before cracking her whip in his direction.

"Tetsutetsu is out cold and cannot continue! The winner by knockout is Eijiro Kirishima!"

The crowd exploded into applause and Eijiro felt a smile make its way onto his battered face.

"Yeah…that's right…I did it…"

"Don't move, Kirishima. I'm calling for stretchers for both you and Tetsutetsu."

"Yeah…that's…probably a good idea."

Eijiro wasn't sure he could have taken so much as a step right then anyway.

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Denki Kaminari had made a mistake. This was by no means an unusual occurrence; he was kind of a doof sometimes, which Jiro of all people would probably be quick to point out.

Like many mistakes, this hadn't seemed like one at first. In fact, it had seemed like a good, responsible course of action. Once Kirishima's match had started, Denki had watched for a few minutes before excusing himself and making his way to the waiting room. After all, his match was up next and he really didn't feel like having to run all the way to the field if he didn't have to. So, he had given Jiro a smile the peace sign, to which she had rolled her eyes and given him a shove which nearly caused him to fall down the steps.

What Denki _hadn't_ counted on, however, was Kirishima's match taking _for freaking EVER_. The result of this had been Denki sitting in the waiting room and stewing in his own juices for nearly a quarter of an hour. Suffice to say that he had managed to sufficiently psyche himself out by the time Present Mic had declared Kirishima to be the victor.

"Oh, god. I should've just stayed in the stands. I could've been _distracted_ up there! I wouldn't have had to try and wrack my brain about what to do or how to win! What was that ever going to accomplish anyway?! Who do I think I am, _Midoriya_?!"

Denki knew that he put on his best shows in the heat of the moment when he would only have at most a few seconds to formulate a plan and put it into action. When he took the time to try and plan things out, it all just fell apart. Ordinarily he wouldn't have even bothered, but this was different. This was important. It wasn't just _his_ internship prospects riding on this; it was Jiro's too.

Denki had already let her down once that day. He would _not_ do so again.

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Kyoka Jiro was experiencing a mixture annoyance and relief. She was annoyed at her inability to hear, which was fairly self-explanatory. She was also a bit relieved at her inability to hear because it meant that she wouldn't have to listen to Mina arguing with her as she dragged her back to her seat. The pink girl had immediately attempted to leave when Kirishima was taken away on a stretcher because he was too beat up to walk on his own, but several of her classmates had put the kibosh on that plan.

"Seriously, Mina!" Kyoka finally snapped at her, "What do you think is gonna happen? Recovery Girl is just gonna kick your pink ass outta there and tell you not to disturb her patients!"

Mina was saying something, but Kyoka pointed to the thick, cotton-stuffed bandages that were wrapped around her head.

"I'm deaf right now. Your argument is invalid. Now sit down before I have Sero tape you to your chair." Mina pouted, but complied. Kyoka took some pity on her friend and added, "Think about it this way: you need to stay and watch so you can tell Kirishima who his next opponent will be, right? He might not make it back in time to see the match, so you need to be able to tell him how it goes. He seems like the type of guy who'd be into that."

The pink girl considered this for a moment before giving Kyoka a quick hug and sitting upright in her seat, suddenly attentive.

"You're welcome. Sheesh, why is everyone so huggy with me today?"

As soon as Kyoka had said it, she realized how it might have sounded and was grateful that Mina was focused on the field below, where that Shinso kid was currently making his way onstage. Shortly after that, Kaminari followed suit from the other side of the field.

Kyoka still wasn't sure exactly what he had said when he had been talking to her in the infirmary when he had hugged her. She imagined that it was something corny that he had managed to make sound cool by sheer conviction. He had been a total mess back there. She hadn't been kidding when she said that he had nearly set her off too.

Still, his body language was totally different from his usual happy-go-lucky self, even when he was trying to put on a show. He looked grim and determined. Nervous, even.

Was it something he had said? Was it something _she_ had said? She would have to text him later and ask him to explain himself.

Either way, she couldn't help feeling nervous for some reason. She wanted him to win, obviously, but there was something else to it. A nagging feeling that they had missed or misunderstood something…

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Denki stood across from Shinso, letting out a deep breath that he had taken in an effort to steady his nerves.

"Hey," he looked up to lock eyes with Shinso, who continued to speak when he knew that he had Denki's attention, "before we do this, I just wanted to apologize for what happened to that Jiro girl. That wasn't part of the plan. Monoma didn't say anything, but I could tell that he was taking it pretty rough too, so, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

That…meant a lot, actually.

"Thanks, dude." Denki managed a half-smile, "She's gonna be alright; there's no permanent harm done according to Recovery Girl."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that." he looked it too. His shoulders were squared as though a weight had been lifted from them.

"Shinso, are you ready?" Midnight prompted.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Kaminari, are you ready?"

"You bet. It's showtime."

"Very well. Fourth Match: Hitoshi Shinso versus Denki Kaminari! Take your stances…and begin!"

Denki was about to run in when Shinso held out his hand and walked calmly towards him.

"It looks like I'm cashing in on that challenge I made to you a bit earlier than expected, but, no hard feelings, right?"

Denki took Shinso's hand and shook it.

"None at all. Let's give 'em a show."

Then Denki's mind went blank.

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Hitoshi Shinso released Kaminari's hand, which fell limply to his side as he stared ahead with a vacant expression.

It was a bit of a shame. He seemed like an okay guy and it chafed Hitoshi a bit that he had to trick him like that, but victory was what mattered here. He would show everyone what he was capable of and get into the Hero Course. Nothing and no one could be allowed to interfere with that, even if he _had_ meant everything that he had said to the Class President of 1-A.

"Kaminari-san, turn around and walk out of the ring."

The blonde boy slowly turned away from Hitoshi and began trudging towards the far end of the ring with slow, shuffling steps.

" _Oh my! Listeners, it appears that Kaminari has lost the will to continue and is going to step out of the ring! This would, of course, count as a ring-out and make Shinso the winner! But why? What could Shinso have said to him that could sap his fighting spirit so quickly?!"_

" _It's obviously his Quirk."_

" _HUH?! But if he has such a powerful Quirk, then how come he isn't in the Hero Course?!"_

" _Because the U.A. entrance exam is fundamentally flawed. His Quirk is the type that only works on people, not robots."_

" _Ah, he's like you then, Shota?"_

" _To an extent. I still managed to get into U.A. though, because the exams were different back in the day."_

" _Good times."_

Hitoshi was starting to wish that he had added the word "quickly" to his command, because Kaminari was really dragging his feet. He was still a few steps away from the edge of the ring. No matter, he would be in the clear in just a few more moments.

"DENKI! ZAP!" a girl's voice suddenly rang out from the stands, catching Hitoshi's attention. It was difficult to tell from so far away, but it looked like that Jiro girl from earlier. Was she trying to cheer her friend on? Touching, but pointless. Once someone was affected by Brainwashing, you had to physically jostle them to snap them out of it.

Hitoshi was surprised, therefore, when electricity briefly sparked to life around Kaminari, followed by him falling backwards onto his ass mere feet from the edge of the ring.

"Kaminari, get up and walk out of the ring already."

Kaminari did indeed stand up, but then he turned to face Hitoshi, a grim expression on his face as he wreathed his body in electricity.

"No, I don't think I'm gonna do that, thanks."

 _He…he broke free? How?!_

"How did you do that?! How did you break free of my control?!"

"It's a bit of a long story. Maybe I'll tell you some other time."

 _There! He answered my question again! He'll be back under my control and…_

… _why the hell is he still walking towards me?!_

"You look surprised. I guess that means it wasn't the handshake that did it then. It must have something to do with talking to you." Kaminari continued to approach him, electricity crackling around his body.

"Come on, you wanted to put on a show, right? How can we put on a show if I can't even use my ability on you?"

"That's your problem. I do like putting on a good show, sure, but right now there's something more important that I need to do. I'm not just fighting for myself anymore."

This was one of the most bizarre conversations that Hitoshi had ever had because _holy shit his Brainwashing wasn't working_.

Kaminari was right in front of him by then and Hitoshi did the only other thing he could do aside from surrendering: he punched Kaminari across the face.

He instantly regretted this decision when an electric charge ran down his arm, causing it to snap away involuntarily. Kaminari capitalized on this opening by grabbing Hitoshi's shoulder, allowing the electricity to flow more freely.

There were pins and needles shooting across Hitoshi's body as the electricity surged through him, the feeling only intensifying when Kaminari added his other hand to the mix, punching Hitoshi across the face and returning the favor from a moment ago. Hitoshi fell to the ground, having difficulty getting his limbs to obey him thanks to the aftereffects of the electricity.

Then Kaminari was in front of him, his hand held mere inches from Hitoshi's face.

"I think you should give up, Shinso-san. I'd rather not electrocute your face if I don't have to."

There was nothing else for it.

"I…I surrender."

"By way of surrender, Kaminari has won the match!" Midnight announced.

Kaminari held out his hand to Hitoshi, the electricity from before now absent. Hitoshi took it, but it felt as though he had left part of his stomach on the ground when he stood up.

"Man, that was a close one!" Kaminari clapped him on the back, "If it hadn't been for Jiro, you'd have won hands-down!"

"It doesn't matter though." Hitoshi responded bitterly, "If I can't prove that I deserve it, I'll never get in to the Hero Course."

"Hmm…" Kaminari thought about this for a moment as the pair of them exited the field, "Hey, I know! I'm the Class President of 1-A, right? And you said before that you know that we have an empty seat, right? I'll just give my recommendation as Class President that Aizawa gives that seat to you! I mean, you're the only non-Hero Course student that made it this far, so that already says a lot about what you're capable of!"

Hitoshi hadn't been expecting that and he honestly wasn't sure how to respond to it. Usually when people found out about his Quirk, especially if he had used it _on_ them, they immediately started to distrust him or at the very least they got mad at him. This…this was just weird. This guy was just weird.

But, he supposed, it might be a good kind of weird.

"Thanks, Kaminari-san. I'd really appreciate that."

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Denki Kaminari's heart was beating a mile a minute as he did his best to calm himself down. He had sent Shinso on his way, inviting him to sit with the rest of 1-A since he fully intended to have him be one of them soon enough.

" _Are…are you sure?"_

" _Totally! I'll be right there. Just gotta grab my stuff first."_

In reality, while Denki _did_ need to grab his stuff, he also needed to take a minute to hyperventilate in peace because _holy shit that had been way too close._

He had come _this_ close to losing it all in the first minute of his first match and crapping out on his promise to Jiro without even making so much as a spark.

"I…I _can't_ do that again! That was…that was…"

It had felt _wrong_. It was like he was recovering from frying his brain but he was still somehow completely lucid and his body was moving without him wanting it to and…

"Great. Now I'm shaking. Damn it, Denki, pull yourself together!"

"Hm? Who are- oh. It's _you_."

"Huh?" Denki raised his head from the table and saw Monoma standing in the doorway.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just taking a moment to prepare for my match against Midoriya. Feel free to have a post-victory breakdown if that's what you want to do, asinine though it may be. I'll have to ask that you not shock me again though."

"Oh, yeah. No problem. Shinso told me that you didn't mean to do that to Jiro, so it's all good."

"Tch. You wouldn't think a guy like him would be one to say unnecessary things. Talk about judging a book by its cover."

"It sounds like that classmate of yours put up a hell of a fight against Kirishima. I was in the waiting room for most of it, so I couldn't see." Denki tried to change the subject.

"That meathead. I _told_ him that he couldn't afford to do things in his usual way, but did he listen? Of course not. Those types never do. He would have won if he could just take his head out of his metallic ass for more than a few minutes at a time. He's surprisingly articulate when he's not being muffled by his own rectum."

" _Alright! Would the next two contestants please make your way to your designated entrance!"_

"Well, that would seem to be my cue. If you were trying to prevent me from getting in some last-minute planning then congratulations, you seem to have succeeded. Not that it will matter in the long run, of course."

"Yeah, well…good luck?"

"Whatever."

Denki rubbed the back of his neck as Monoma exited the waiting room.

"Man…talk about a hard guy to read. Maybe he's just their version of Bakugo?"

Because _that_ was just the thing that U.A. had been missing: a _second_ Bakugo.

* * *

 **Woo! We not only managed to get through the Eijiro vs Tetsutetsu fight, but the Hitoshi vs Denki fight (however much of a fight it was) as well. Next time will be the much-anticipated Izuku vs. Neito.**

 **For those of you who picked up on what was happening at the end of the Eijiro vs. Tetsutetsu fight, don't worry: Eijiro does _not_ have Unbreakable yet. We know that his Quirk is heavily influenced by his resolve, so he had a minor breakthrough at the end, but he doesn't really know what happened and he'll be hard-pressed to duplicate that feat voluntarily, at least for a while. Also, if Denki breaking Hitoshi's Brainwashing left anyone confused, don't worry about that either: it will be further explained when he rejoins the rest of his classmates.**

 **Now, just to make sure you are all aware, there will be no chapter next week. I am out-of-state for the entire weekend and will be unable to do any writing. No, I did not deliberately plan this gap to be right before the Izuku vs. Neito fight, but damned if it isn't a hell of a place to put it, eh?**

 **You all have a merry Christma-hanuk-kwanzaa-whatever and I'll see you all again with one more chapter before the new year.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	36. Chapter 35: The Only One

**So, we've got a shorter chapter this week and I apologize for that. Between holiday stuff and other stuff, I haven't had as much time to work on this chapter as I anticipated. Next chapter will be longer, I promise!**

 **Review time:**

 **Twilight-Lloyd, Slayer76, Mrguy22594, Darashiko, Eramis8, Jack Inqu, uchihaNaruto247, Tism-schism, Jumper Prime : People Looking Forward to Izuku vs Neito**

 **Slayer76, Engineer of Epicness, the_narr_master, Reverseflash, Eramis8, Jack Inqu, ILiekFishes, The 0bservanc3 : People who figured out how Denki broke out of Brainwashing.**

 **Cieszesi Niezmiernie : Wow, thank you! It's great to hear that this fic ranks up there with the manga for you! Also glad you enjoyed the fight! What music did you add to it? I'm always curious about stuff like that.**

 **Engineer of Epicness : Does Bakugo have a thing for blondes? I'm not going to spoil any shipping stuff with him, but I'm legitimately curious.**

 **the_narr_master : Kirishima will for sure have the chance to watch a recording of his and everyone else's matches, as will all the other students. You can bet that at least a couple will get some good learning experiences from the Sports Festival!**

 **Tism-schism : I do agree that the timing is a bit weird, though I promise it's coincidental. I can certainly confirm that Izuku's Quirk will be further developed, though I obviously can't say for certain if it will match canon or not. It's great to hear that you put this story on-par with the manga! It most certainly makes me proud.**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r : This is a good question and I will answer it in the post-chapter notes to avoid spoilers.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : If you think about it, while 12 minutes is certainly a long time to be in a fight, it's not unheard of for matches to last that long. Hell, boxing matches routinely last even longer than that, since 3 minutes is one round. Granted, they get one-minute breaks in-between rounds, but still. You are correct that the fights will look different to the civilians and the Pros. They even touch on this a bit in canon with the Katsuki vs Ochako fight. Huh. I never realized it, but you're absolutely right about Ms. Joke being there and it makes total sense that she would be.**

 **It's suggested in canon that Crimson Riot had some sort of hardening-type Quirk, so it's likely that Eijiro drew inspiration from him, just like he always does. As for Mina, I'm sure she can increase her resistance to her acid as well as find ways to mess with the potency of it among other things. What happened is that Tetsutetsu swung wide and that caused his punch to take too long to land. Eijiro took advantage of this and used Headbutt. You are correct that the clanging was alternating hits. They do make more or less identical sounds.  
**

 **Yep! I was totally serious when I said that Kyoka didn't hear a single word of Denki actually being heartfelt and cool. I wouldn't say that Shinso's a noodle, he's just not totally jacked like some of the other students. You are correct that he has room to improve, just like all the other students.**

 **Corruption of Saints : Midas, huh? It's appropriate for sure, in more ways than you realize. I think I might use this.**

 **yasideen1 : There's a good chance that Tooru will have a costume overhaul when that part of the story comes around, yes.**

 **avidreaded, shanekg, Sentinel07, IWriteWhenTheHiatusStrikes, mlkoolc86, Devildogg20 : Generic thank-you.**

 **Now, let's get on with the fight a lot of you have been waiting for!**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Only "One"

Izuku Midoriya was doing his best to think quickly as he walked down the concrete hallway that opened onto the field where he would soon be doing battle with Neito Monoma of Class 1-B. Unbeknownst to him, his opponent was doing the same thing, only in reverse.

Honestly, Izuku knew it should be a fairly straightforward fight, given that he now knew what his opponent's Quirk was. That was the big issue concerning Monoma and Shinso, after all: that they didn't know which one of them had been responsible for the sonic attack that had injured Kaminari and Jiro. Given Shinso's obvious guilt over the whole thing, it had seemed plausible that he was the one with the sonic-type Quirk.

However, this had quickly been proven incorrect when he had demonstrated his Quirk to be _freaking mind control_ during his match with Kaminari. Izuku couldn't help but feel that he had dodged a major bullet with that one; he shuddered to imagine what would have happened if _he_ had been the one to be subjected to a Quirk like that. It wasn't as though he had some sort of Quirk-related failsafe that he could activate subconsciously or anything like that.

That would just be silly.

So, given the new evidence that had been presented to him, Izuku could only conclude that Monoma was the one with the sonic Quirk, which meant that Shinso had felt bad about something that had in no way whatsoever been his fault, which meant that he was just a good guy in general. Izuku hoped that he would get into the Hero Course like he wanted; they could always use more people like that, _especially_ when they had such a powerful Quirk.

Maybe he could talk to Aizawa about that? He _was_ Class Vice-President after all. That had to count for something, right?

 _Focus._

Right. He was getting distracted. He needed to come up with a plan of action for combating Monoma. Really, there wasn't much to be done other than cover his ears and take him out when he was recovering from using his Quirk. He would probably have one hell of a headache when it was all said and done, but there was nothing else for it. It was about as good of a plan as he was going to get.

…Why did he feel like he was missing something critical, then?

 _Wouldn't be the first time._

…Okay, he had kind of asked for that one.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Neito Monoma was reviewing the relatively small amount of information that he had on his opponent. Contrary to what he had said to 1-A's Class President, he understood very well that every extra bit of planning could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Even so, it wasn't as though he was about to let a member of the competition know that they had thrown him for a loop.

Now…Midoriya. In spite of the fact that he had been careful to observe him during the first two contests whenever he had the opportunity, Neito was forced to admit that he knew disturbingly little about the other boy's Quirk. Oh, he knew that it allowed him to breathe fire, but he had no idea about the exact mechanics behind it or if he could do anything else with it. Indeed, now that Neito was taking a moment to review his observations, Midoriya had not made any use of his flames whatsoever in the Sports Festival up until that very moment. In spite of this, he had made sure that he and his teammates had placed first in both of the first two events.

The fact that he could accomplish this while handicapping himself in such a way was…disturbing. Sure, Neito hadn't made much use of his Quirk in the first event either, but he had also placed a full thirty-four places below Midoriya. Granted, this was by design to give himself and his classmates more of an opportunity to observe Class 1-A as a whole, but even if he had gone all-out, Neito doubted that he would have placed too much higher than twentieth or so.

The most likely explanation, of course, was that the other boy was purposefully keeping the true nature of his Quirk a secret for as long as possible in order to give himself an edge over the competition. Neito had exercised similar tactics himself, after all. While there was certainly a chance that the other boy had figured out that his Quirk wasn't Comic, there was a very, _very_ small chance that he had managed to figure out what exactly it _was_.

Of course, it would quickly become obvious to not only Midoriya, but everyone else in the stands as well just what his Quirk actually was. Once he turned the other boy's own power against him, even the biggest of idiots would be able to figure out the true nature of Copy.

Neito was many things, but he was no fool. He had held no illusions about the fact that he would only be able to keep Copy a secret while he could still rely on the support of his teammates to disguise his abilities. In a one-on-one fight, unless he was facing off against someone who was truly weak or incompetent, he would need to use his Quirk in order to have a fighting chance.

As much as it chafed, Neito was forced to admit that anyone who could accomplish what Midoriya had without making use of their true abilities could be considered neither weak nor incompetent. In fact, if he was being realistic, the opposite was more likely to be true.

 _My only chance will be to use Copy before he can react. I guess I'll have to bank on him not knowing what my Quirk is and go from there. Otherwise, who knows what could happen?_

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Denki Kaminari was currently the center of attention of Class 1-A while they waited for the next match to start. Everyone wanted to know just how he had managed to break through and subsequently ignore Shinso's Brainwashing, not the least of which was the man himself, who had taken Denki up on his offer of sitting with them.

"I mean," the sleepy-eyed boy explained, "I know that it's not foolproof: it can be broken with just a minor physical shock, like someone bumping into you for example, but nothing like that happened to you back there!"

"Yeah, you can't expect us to believe that you just bullshitted your way out of that with manly spirit or something like Kirishima did for his match." Bakugo concurred.

"Hey! Don't diss manly spirit!" Kirishima objected before grinning sheepishly at Denki, "Although, yeah, I don't think I'd be able to get out of mind control with it, so come on, Prez! Spill!"

"Well, when I use my Quirk, I send electrical currents all throughout my body." Denki explained, enjoying the feeling of being the smart one in the proverbial room for a change, "Overusing my Quirk, as I'm sure you've all noticed by now, makes me a bit…"

"Derpy?" Hagakure supplied.

"Slow?" Iida offered.

"Mentally hilarious?" Ashido guessed.

"Sure, let's go with those." Denki said, eyebrow twitching slightly, "Anyway, that's the result of too much current passing through my brain in a short period of time. You might say I literally fry my brain, though it always gets better after a while. Well, just because I don't fry my brain when I use smaller amounts doesn't mean the current isn't still passing through me, get it? All I had to do was discharge a small amount of electricity to disrupt whatever Brainwashing was doing to, well, my brain."

"Okay, that makes sense for how you stopped me from reapplying it," Shinso agreed, "but it still doesn't explain how you got out of it in the first place! When Brainwashing is active, my target stays completely still unless I tell them to do something and even then, they only act as I order them to until it wears off."

"Well…" Denki scratched his cheek, trying to work out how to explain it, "Hey, Yaomomo, can you help me out here? You know how it works, right?"

"Oh! Yes." his buxom classmate was momentarily taken aback at being called on so abruptly, but she recovered quickly and began to explain, "You see, during the USJ incident, Kyoka-chan and I accidentally discovered that Kaminari-san responds to his first name when he has overused his Quirk. Most likely, this is the result of some sort of childhood conditioning on the part of his parents to rein him in when he would otherwise be uncontrollable."

"Hey, Denki," Sato tried experimentally, "get me a sandwich."

"Nice try, jackass. It only works when I'm brain-fried."

"Okay. Fry your brain, _then_ get me a sandwich."

" _Anyway_ ," Denki flipped Sato off and then got the conversation back on track, "it was really all thanks to Jiro here that I was able to shake it off. If she hadn't thought to try what she did, then I'd have lost. No question." knowing that she couldn't hear him, Denki gently shook Jiro's shoulder as he spoke.

"You're welcome, moron." she had apparently gotten the message, though he kind of wished she would look at him since, judging by the way Ashido and (presumably) Hagakure were giggling, she was making a funny face.

Denki was considering pushing the issue, but right then Present Mic decided that the audience had waited long enough for the next match.

" _Alright, Listeners! Let's welcome our next pair of combatants to the ring! He's the one I'm sure a lot of you have been keeping an eye on since the first event! He's taken first place not once, but_ twice _so far! Can he continue his winning streak, or will it all end here?! It's the Vice-President of Class 1-A: Izuku Midoriya!"_

The applause for Midoriya was, as expected, very enthusiastic. The audience was clearly eager to see what he had up his sleeve for the third event and Denki couldn't blame them; he felt the same way.

" _Wow, listen to that applause! Now, let's hear that energy one more time for his opponent! He's the mastermind of Class 1-B: Neito Monoma!"_

The blond boy walked onto the field to his own burst of applause from the audience, which was clearly energized by the idea of a clash between the two tacticians.

"Hey, Bakugo?" Denki got the bomber's attention, "What do you think?"

"I think I'm about to call you a dumbass."

"Heh. You're that confident in Midoriya, huh?"

"No, dumbass. We don't know for sure what that kid's Quirk is and that means that unless Deku ends this quickly, it could go either way."

"Huh? Wait, why are you calling me a dumbass if my question was legitimate?!"

Bakugo appeared genuinely confused by this.

"Eh? I called you a dumbass because you're a dumbass, dumbass. Whoever Deku's fighting, it won't change that. Goddamn."

Denki groaned and slumped in his seat as a few of his classmates laughed at his predicament.

There was just no winning sometimes.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku stood across from Monoma, who was making a show of sizing him up, a confident smirk on his face.

 _He's just trying to psych you out._

 _I know that, but it doesn't mean I don't still have reason to be worried._

"Midoriya, are you ready?" Midnight snapped him out of his reverie, one hand on her hip.

"Ah, yes, Sensei."

"Monoma, are you ready?"

"I suppose I am."

"Very well. Fifth Match: Izuku Midoriya versus Neito Monoma! Take your stances…and begin!"

Just before Midnight had said "begin," Izuku had noticed Monoma taking a long, deep breath. Clearly, he had intended to launch a sonic attack as soon as the match began. Izuku clapped his hands over his ears as the other boy charged at him, letting out a yell.

"GOTCHA!" there was no resounding wave of sound. There was, however, a misjudged swipe of Monoma's hand that had just barely managed to graze Izuku's hair before he hopped backwards, out of range of Izuku's retaliatory strike.

 _He missed! He misjudged his distance with that attack!_

 _Are you sure about that? He looks pretty satisfied to me._

Indeed, Monoma was standing a few feet away from Izuku, flexing his fingers experimentally. Then, without warning, he leapt forwards far faster than should have been possible and sunk his fist into Izuku's gut, sending the bewildered boy flying several feet backwards before catching himself and skidding to a halt.

"Guh!" Izuku coughed as he recovered from the unexpected blow, only narrowing avoiding having the wind knocked out of him when he tensed his abdominal muscles on reflex.

"Geez, packs a bit of recoil, doesn't it?" Monoma groused as he made circular motions with his arm, loosening up the muscles, "That explains why you're as fit as you are, I guess. Here I thought I was no slouch, but I guess I need to step up my game a bit."

Izuku was dumbstruck. There was only one possible explanation for what Monoma had just done, but he had never stopped to consider it.

He had copied One For All. Izuku feared for a brief moment that he might have outright _stolen_ it, but he could still feel the power at his fingertips, waiting for him to call upon it.

 _Well, this might not be so bad. If he copied One For All, that means he didn't get Flame Magnet! He can't use more than five percent of One For All's power without anything to fuel it._

"Alright," Monoma looked mildly puzzled as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck experimentally, "what does… _this_ do?"

He visibly tensed for a moment and it was then that Izuku noticed the two nearest flame pillars waver as though blown by a non-existent breeze.

 _Oh shit. He copied_ both _?!_

 _Ask him. He seems like the type who likes to run his mouth. It's worth a shot._

"What did you do?!" Izuku did his best to appear confused and scared.

"Don't play dumb, Midoriya. I obviously copied your Quirk." Monoma wasn't falling for it. Time to change tactics.

"That doesn't explain how you know how to use it! It took me _years_ to learn how to control it properly!"

"Oh. That." Monoma was surprisingly willing to talk, though maybe he was using their conversation to buy time while he learned the ins and outs of One For All and Flame Magnet? Izuku needed information.

"Understand this, Midoriya:" Monoma said as he began circling Izuku, "I'm not telling you this for _your_ benefit. I'm telling you this so that all the Pro Heroes in the audience can understand exactly what's happening when I beat you with your own Quirk."

Monoma took a moment to compose his response, though Izuku could tell from the glint in his eye that part of him was just enjoying all of the attention.

"My Quirk is, appropriately enough, named 'Copy.'" he began, "By making physical contact with someone, I can copy their Quirk for a limited period of time as long as it's not a Mutant-type. Once I've done this, I gain an instinctive understanding of how to activate said individual's Quirk. This can be a bit tricky when said Quirk has multiple possible functions, like yours. This goes double for Quirks that I don't know very much about. Again, like yours."

"Do you understand what this means, Midoriya?" Monoma had nearly made a full circuit around Izuku by this point, "It means that I can grasp the Quirk that you spent so many years perfecting and turn it on you in a matter of moments! There is no Quirk that is too powerful for me to fight against when I can make that very power my own with a mere touch! Also, I really must thank you for providing me the time to figure out that the second function of your Quirk is a sustained-activation ability instead of a single-action type!"

Izuku only had a fraction of a second to figure out what Monoma was talking about before the four pillars of fire that surrounded the ring shot towards Monoma.

"Don't do it!"

But it was too late. Monoma had turned Flame Magnet on at full power, not having the lifetime of experience that Izuku did with the finer applications of the Quirk.

"AAAHHHHHH!"

The result was that he was bathed in a torrent of flames before the pain broke his focus and caused Flame Magnet to deactivate. Izuku immediately pulled the residual flames towards him, devouring what he could before allowing the rest to dissipate harmlessly.

Standing in the center of the ring was a thoroughly singed Neito Monoma. His clothing seemed to have protected him from some of the flames, but his exposed arms and face were undoubtedly burnt. It was a good thing that his contact with the flames had been brief, otherwise the results would have been much worse.

"Monoma-san, are you alright?!" Izuku ran over to his opponent and was rewarded with a Smash to the face which sent him crashing to the floor.

"What…what kind of messed-up Quirk _is_ this?!" Monoma shouted as his burnt lips cracked and split, "How…how could you use such a suicidal power?!"

Izuku stood up and shook his head to clear it. It was still a novel experience to get hit by his own power and he suddenly had a newfound level of respect for Kacchan tanking all of those hits during their Battle Trial match.

"I'm surprised that someone as intelligent as you hasn't figured it out, Monoma-san." he responded coldly, "Weren't you saying just a moment ago that my lifetime of experience wouldn't help me? Maybe with some Quirks that might be true, but let me tell you something: You drew the short straw today. The fact that you only know how to _activate_ the Quirks that you copy instead of how to _use_ them means that you roll the dice every time you go up against an opponent that you don't know anything about. It was only a matter of time until you got snake eyes."

Izuku approached Monoma, stopping when he was a few feet away to avoid any more surprise attacks.

"Face it, Monoma-san: no Quirk is universally powerful against every conceivable opponent and yours is no exception. Now surrender before you get hurt more than you already are."

"Don't insult me." Monoma spat, "What sort of Hero would give up just because he got a little cooked? I still have your strength and that seems like the only aspect of your Quirk with any combat potential since you'll just burn yourself if you do anything else!"

"You're wrong."

Izuku called the fire from the two nearest pillars to him, focusing it towards his left hand, guiding it around, condensing it, passing it to his right hand…

"Reflect Fire."

…and letting it go.

The resulting explosion sent Monoma flying, causing him to impact the floor and skid to a stop, sporting a fresh coat of burns on his now-bare torso.

"Sensei!" Izuku raised his voice to make sure Midnight heard him, "I'll keep fighting him if I have to, but I really think you should call the match. Unless I do something really stupid, there's no way he can win as things are now."

"Go…to hell…" Monoma, despite clearly being in a large amount of pain, forced himself to sit up, "If you want to win this match, you'll have to knock me out or get me out of this ring. If you expect me to just roll over and make things easy for you, then you've got another thing coming!"

"Do you expect me to kick you while you're down and unable to fight anymore?!" Izuku shouted in exasperation, "I can't do that!"

"Well, you could always surrender." Monoma suggested, managing the same mocking smirk as earlier in spite of his blistered and bleeding face.

As far as Izuku was concerned, that tore it. He began walking purposefully towards where Monoma sat on the ground, fully intending to drag him out of the ring by his neck when Midnight's voice rang out, interrupting him.

"That's enough! Monoma is judged to be unable to continue due to injury! The winner is Izuku Midoriya! Now can we _please_ get a stretcher out here?!"

As a pair of U.A. robots rushed onto the field to comply with Midnight's request, Izuku exited the field, massaging his jaw and thinking.

"Monoma-san!" he called out as the other boy was being loaded onto his stretcher, "How many Quirks did you have copied during our match?"

"What, trying to make your victory seem that much better?" Monoma scoffed, "Well, tough! While it's true that I can copy multiple Quirks at once, I only had _your_ Quirk during our match! That was the only one!"

Izuku stopped dead in his tracks.

 _What did he mean…the only "one?"_

 _Seems pretty self-explanatory to me._

 _But…I have two Quirks! Flame Magnet and One For All!_

 _He certainly didn't seem to think so._

 _But…how can that be?! He was using both of them!_

Other Izuku did not respond, though Izuku thought that he heard a long-suffering sigh from within his mind.

Just what could he be missing?

Well, whatever it was, it could wait until after he had seen Recovery Girl. It wasn't often that one was hit in the face with their own power and Izuku for one could safely say that he hoped it never happened again.

* * *

 **I know that the fight wasn't much of a fight and that some of you were really looking forward to seeing another Izuku fight scene. Don't worry though; his next fight will make up for this. You all know the one I'm talking about.**

 **Now, as one of our long-time reviewers asked above, here's how Monoma's Quirk works in regards to One For All AS I SEE IT: He absorbs whatever version of One For All his target is using. Since One For All is different for each user, the exact benefit(s) that Monoma would get depends entirely on who he's using Copy on. Izuku just so happens to have a version that is capped at 5% unless he burns fuel on it, which is how Monoma was able to use it without destroying his body. If he was to, say, use it on All Might, things would probably end badly for him.**

 **Well, next time we've got another match that we didn't get to see in canon: Todoroki vs Ojiro! How will things play out when the Tailed Titan actually _knows_ what he's up against and doesn't get immediately flash-frozen?! Find out later!**

 **Happy New Year and as always, thank you for reading!**


	37. Chapter 36: Stand Tall

**Alright, starting to get back in the swing of things. As promised, this chapter is definitely longer than the last one and I'm a bit more satisfied with the fight scenes here.**

 **Review time:**

 **Cieszesi Niezmiernie, Slayer76, bhennen, Lightningblade49, D3lph0xL0v3r, Eramis8, Kurokawa Kazunari, abo556, The 0bservanc3 : Quite a few of you are theorizing about what's actually going on with Izuku's Quirk(s) and at least a few of you are right on the money. It's always fun to watch you guys think.  
**

 **Corruption of Saints, mlkookc86, Death of Snipers, Slayer76, bhennen, uchihaNaruto247, ILiekFishes, Eramis8, Ricku28, The 0bservanc3 : I'm glad to know that, by and large, people enjoyed the Izuku vs. Neito fight. Some of you were even surprised by how it went, which is always a good thing!  
**

 **Berserker Singh : I haven't really considered including sections of the previous chapters at the beginning of new ones, no. I figure if people need a recap they can just scan through the previous chapter again. Plus, this series updates fairly often, so I don't see much risk of people forgetting stuff.**

 **DirtyDietrik : The important thing to note about the evolution of One For All (or at least, my version of it) is that when it gets passed on it doesn't take every single aspect of a person's Quirk with it, just some bits and pieces depending on the nature of the Quirk and, indeed, of the wielder themselves. The energy it stockpiles is more abstract and formless, which is one of the reasons why it ends up being more powerful each time it gets passed on. It only fully incorporates the wielder's existing Quirk (if any) while that wielder still holds it. For example, if/when Izuku passes it on, it will probably gain an element of heat resistance or something like that.**

 **Benjutsu : You are totally correct that One For All cannot be forcefully stolen or passed on without consent. What Monoma did, however, was neither of these things: He simply copied it for a period of 5 minutes. To me, there is a very important distinction between taking something and simply copying it and Monoma's inherent time limit combined with his restriction to only using a single copied Quirk at a time prevents this ability from becoming broken. Semantics? Perhaps. But major fan theories have been built on less.**

 **Quest 31543 : I think Monoma should be given a bit more credit. He did manage to put up a decent fight, such as it was, with a Quirk that he knew nothing about. Ideally, he works best in a team scenario where he can copy Quirks that he knows well and switch between them on-the-fly. Experienced Heroes should recognize this fact, so he'll probably do okay, even if he definitely has some work to do. Anyone who discards him completely because of this would fall into the category of those Heroes who booed the Bakugo vs Uraraka fight in canon.**

 **Ooobserver : Welcome aboard! It's heartening to know that you feel this story can stand up to Viridescent, since as I've said before, one of the eventual goals of Torchbearer is to dethrone the current number one MHA fanfic, even if my primary purpose is still just writing the kind of story that I would want to read. Utilizing the time frames that canon glossed over was one of my goals from the very beginning and I'm always happy to see people enjoying the "original content." I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **sunsetskywrites : I totally agree with what you're saying and I deliberately didn't spend a ton of time on this. Since this is a good point though, I'll address it. It was my understanding that the bridge scene happened a while after Izuku found out he was Quirkless. In Torchbearer, Izuku awakens his Quirk maybe...a week or so before that doctor's appointment would have happened. So, in this time, Katsuki and Izuku develop their Hero/Sidekick dynamic and become more comfortable with each other. If the bridge scene happened in Torchbearer, which it might not have, Katsuki would most likely have taken it as Izuku doing his job as a Sidekick and supporting his Hero instead of looking down on him. Hopefully this helps to address your concerns!**

 **The 0bservanc3 : "In reverse" simply meant that while Izuku was thinking about Neito, Neito was thinking about Izuku. One For All will indeed develop differently than in canon. Neito's theory about Izuku deliberately not using his Quirk...50/50. The limit to Monoma's Quirk is that A) each copied Quirk lasts for 5 minutes and B) he can only use one copied Quirk at a time. He can have multiple Quirks copied at once though and the limit to this has not yet been defined, though there wouldn't be much point in having too many of them since...5 minutes. Denki could indeed build up his capacity. In fact, that's what he does during the Summer Training Camp in canon. Monoma being able to copy a Quirk off of hair contact alone is also established in canon: He does it to Kirishima during the Cavalry Battle.**

 **Monoma does indeed get better at using Quirks that he has copied multiple times! Practice makes perfect, after all. As for other Quirks that would be bad for Monoma to copy, hmm...Well, if he copied One For All off of All Might, which is the same as in canon, then he'd probably be in for a bad time. No telling what would happen if he tried to copy a Nomu either. Maybe he'd actually be okay since he can already carry multiple Quirks? It would probably depend.**

 **Blackpan26 : That would be spoilers, my friend.**

 **ReadingPotatoe, Mrguy22594, Darashiko, PokeKing Charizard, The Keeper of Worlds, beingwithu and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's kick things off with everyone's favorite internally-conflicted teenager!**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Six: Stand Tall

Shoto Todoroki was doing his best to focus. This was not unusual, especially since Endeavor had drilled pre-battle meditation into his head once he was old enough to understand the concept. Given how destructive his Quirk could be, combined with the fact that one could never entirely predict the outcome of a life-or-death situation, it was a sensible practice and one that Shoto never neglected, not even to spite the Number Two Hero.

No, the unusual part was that he was _failing_ and not even for the first time that day.

Discipline. That was one thing that Shoto Todoroki had in spades. Discipline to rein in and focus his Quirk. Discipline to quell his anger and clear his mind. Discipline to never use his left side, no matter how much easier it might make things.

Discipline to never give anything away. No weakness. No chink in the armor. No crack in the façade.

Shoto had failed in this. Repeatedly and with the same person, no less.

Hagakure. She had known that something was off, though of course she had no way of knowing exactly what it was.

She had sensed that something was off right away, if the repeated glances she had been shooting his way all morning had been any indication. Her use of body language to communicate had the side-effect of making her nowhere near as subtle as she thought she was. Honestly, just because she was invisible didn't mean she didn't have tells when she was wearing clothes. One could read a lot of things just by watching the movements of someone's shoulders and torso. It drove her crazy whenever she sparred with anybody with a good amount of combat sense, Shoto in particular.

Then he had called Midoriya out in front of their entire class and confirmed her suspicions. Admittedly, that had been a bit out-of-character for Shoto and he could have timed it better, but of the many things that Endeavor had painstakingly drilled into his head, tact was not one of them.

Shoto had actually felt a bit better for a while after getting that off his chest. He had made a conscious effort to assuage any concerns that Hagakure had about his mental and emotional state, which seemed to work.

Then Midoriya had played him like a fiddle and there went any semblance of his ability to pretend to be in a good mood. Hagakure had, of course, picked up on this. The difference was that, since she had him more or less out of earshot of other students, she actively pursued the issue.

Shoto had very nearly snapped. After he had taken a few seconds to process what he had done, it had struck him how much restraint he had needed to exercise to prevent himself from yelling at her. Shoto had, naturally, apologized as soon as he had realized what he had done, but this had only seemed to make Hagakure more concerned.

Honestly, the more he thought about it, the more Shoto came to realize that Midoriya seemed to be the common denominator when it came to his current state.

So he had told him. He had taken Midoriya aside after the second event and told him about Endeavor and his purpose in creating Shoto. He had told him about the loveless Quirk Marriage that had driven his mother to scar his face. He had explained to Midoriya his goal in simultaneously surpassing and spiting his father.

Even while in the midst of his explanation, Shoto had been unsure of exactly _why_ he had decided to tell Midoriya all of these things. Was it out of a sense of obligation as a part of his apology? That was possible. Perhaps he had thought that a sense of understanding might help Midoriya to realize just how sincere he was?

Could it have been because, by telling him, Shoto was effectively backing himself into a corner, leaving himself no choice but to succeed? Had he doubted his own resolve that much? Unlikely, but possible, given the sort of day he had been having.

Or, unthinkably, could he have just needed to talk to someone that wasn't family? If so, why Midoriya? They weren't particularly close by any stretch of the imagination. Honestly, Shoto wasn't particularly close to any of his classmates.

At least, that was what he had always assumed. Shoto had been serious when he had said that it wasn't a goal of his to make friends and have fun with his classmates. He was at U.A. to become a Hero, end of story.

But, as he had beat his fist against the wall in that supposedly-empty hallway, Shoto had heard the faint sound of someone crying echoing off of the concrete walls.

Someone who, yet again, was not quite as subtle as she believed herself to be.

Shoto wasn't sure exactly how much of his conversation with Midoriya she had heard, but it was abundantly clear exactly which _part_ she had heard.

He had considered telling her off for eavesdropping on a private conversation and rebuking her for pitying him, but something had stopped him.

 _That's not it. That's not the type of person Hagakure is._

It had been a passing thought, but it had frozen Shoto in place. As he considered it, he had become convinced of its factuality.

Indeed, Hagakure was something of a gossip and lord knew she could be a bit over-enthusiastic at times, particularly when it came to annoying Shoto, but she wasn't the type for pity. It didn't take a genius to realize that her own life had been challenging enough that she would sooner seek a solution than waste time pitying someone. Not to mention, and Shoto could hardly believe that he had conceded this point, even in his own mind, she knew him well enough to know that he would have nothing but contempt for such feelings.

So, Shoto had left. He had eaten some lunch and when, in due time, Hagakure had returned to the crowd, he had pretended not to notice the occasional movements of her sleeves which indicated that she was rubbing her eyes. She evidently had no inclination to discuss what she had overheard with him, which suited him just fine. He had more than enough things eating at him as it was.

One of which was apparently her, if the twinge he felt upon recalling the sound of soft crying echoing through the featureless hallway.

Great. No, this was great. It was actively distracting him from everything else that was driving him insane today. Except it _wasn't_ , because multitasking was another virtue his bastard of a father had instilled in him.

Thank you _so_ fucking much, Endeavor.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was feeling much better after seeing Recovery Girl. His head was much clearer without the lingering pain from taking two hits from One For All, albeit at five percent. Good thing too, since he was now being bombarded with questions and comments from his classmates.

"Those hits looked bad, Deku-kun! Are you okay?"

"What's the big idea copying my Explosion, Deku?!"

"Since when do you have that kind of control over fire, man?! That was badass!"

"Forget the 'when,' I wanna know the 'how!'"

"That Monoma guy sure has some guts to him though, huh?"

"Come on! We can talk about all of that anytime! Midori, quick, tell us what you think about the next match!"

Ashido's request stood out from the crowd by virtue of being the only one not indirectly forcing him to think about what Monoma had said about his Quirks, so Izuku latched onto that immediately.

"Well, honestly I'd say it all depends on Ojiro-san. He's got the necessary speed, skill and stopping power to give Todoroki-san trouble, but only if he can get in close."

"I dunno," Sero said thoughtfully, "Todoroki's no slouch in close-quarters either."

"Sure, but what other choice does Ojiro have?" Sato countered, "Guys like us, the only choice we have is to charge straight in and lay on the pressure."

"Hmm…" Tokoyami hummed, "I suppose when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

"Don't underestimate hammers." Kacchan chimed in, "In the right hands, they can smash through any sort of defenses. Half-and-Half has a flashy Quirk, but if any hands are the right hands for this…" he trailed off as Present Mic announced the start of the next match, causing everyone's attention to become fixed on the field once more.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

" _Alright, Listeners! Let's keep things rolling along, shall we? Our first contestant hardly needs an introduction after his display in the second event! Power, precision and a glare that will freeze you solid as easily as his Quirk! Shoto Todoroki!"_

Shoto sighed and made his way towards the arena, wanting nothing more than to just finish the match quickly.

" _What sort of opponent could hope to stand against a man such as this?! We just might have our answer! Where one rules with his birthright, the other has honed his body into a deadly weapon with the strength to shatter anything it strikes! He's Mashirao Ojiro!"_

As his opponent made his way onto the field, Shoto saw that he had a sheepish expression on his face.

"He makes it sound like you've never trained when we both know that isn't true. I mean, I know he's trying to sell the fight to the crowd, but it still doesn't feel right."

"It doesn't matter." Shoto's cold response made Ojiro cock his head slightly before nodding his assent.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Midnight stepped forward, giving each of the combatants a quick once-over before nodding.

"Todoroki, are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Ojiro, are you ready?"

"If I said 'no,' would I have more time to plan this out?"

"You'd have the few seconds it takes me to respond to that."

"Then I am now ready." he gave Shoto a roguish grin, "Coming up with a plan while under pressure means that you don't have time to question yourself."

"Very well. Sixth Match: Shoto Todoroki versus Mashirao Ojiro! Take your stances…and begin!"

Shoto wasted no time in sending a massive wall of ice shooting across the ground from his right foot and bearing down on his opponent, aiming to end the match as soon as it began.

 ***KROOM***

Unfortunately for Shoto, this maneuver also served to block his line of sight, so he was unprepared for when the top portion of his wall exploded outwards, having been shattered by a spinning blow from Ojiro's tail as the martial artist descended upon him.

 _He must have anticipated my attack and launched himself into the air as soon as he was out of my line of sight!_

It was then that Shoto understood what Ojiro had meant about not having time to question himself. He knew as well as Shoto did that he was unable to maneuver in midair and that diving straight down at an opponent who specialized in ranged attacks was an incredibly dangerous prospect. In fact, under most circumstances, it would mean his defeat. The only thing that saved him in that moment was the fact that Shoto's ice attacks needed room to develop. They were only at their strongest after they had passed a minimum range and if Shoto launched one at that moment, he would hit himself with it too.

So, with no other options available to him, Shoto did the only thing he could and raised his guard just in time for it to take the impact from Ojiro's gravity-assisted spinning tail slam.

Had it not been for the fact that Shoto's intense training allowed him to live up to the hype that Present Mic had bestowed upon him, at least one of his forearms would likely have been shattered. As it was, the angle of his guard, combined with the last-instant coating of ice he had applied to his right arm and the couple of inches he had bought himself with a frantic backstep had conspired to send Shoto flying backwards through the air with both arms thankfully intact, though his right felt like it was going to swell up something fierce.

Quickly taking into account his speed and trajectory, Shoto rotated in midair and slammed his right foot into the ground, causing a curved wall of ice to redirect him away from the edge of the arena and back towards his opponent, intending to make a counterattack before he could recover completely.

He was met with Ojiro's intense gaze tracking his movements.

 _He never expected his attack to work? I don't know if this makes him a pessimist or a realist, but either way this is going to make things difficult. I guess I should grit my teeth._

Shoto extruded a pillar of ice from his ramp, sending himself hurtling straight at Ojiro with his right arm extended and his left cocked back, eyes scanning his opponent frantically for anything that might reveal his next move.

There. A slight shift in weight. The turning of his back foot. A thrust kick? Leave it to Ojiro to pick something that was going to hurt.

 _I'll take what you've got, but if you think this one's on the house, you're sorely mistaken._

Ojiro's left leg came up in a blur of motion and buried itself in Shoto's gut, knocking the wind out of him before sending him crashing backwards into his own ice ramp. Fortunately, this prevented him from flying out of the ring. Unfortunately, it was a very sudden and violent stop.

"Do me a favor and don't get up, Todoroki-san." Ojiro called to him, "Given the current situation, that wouldn't be in my best interest."

Shoto had taken a nasty blow, but he had left Ojiro with a parting gift. Namely, a mostly-frozen left leg. Ice covered the limb from his foot all the way up to mid-thigh.

As he stood back up, ice creeping across the arena floor from his right foot, Shoto did not respond to his opponent with words. Instead, he simply sent a second wall of ice at him. This time, instead of staying still and waiting for the results, Shoto also slammed his right hand onto the ground and generated a dome of ice around himself as a defensive measure. It was well that he did so, given the fist that broke through the dome up to the elbow a moment later.

It seemed that Ojiro was perfectly capable of moving around with only his tail and a single functional leg, at least when it came to leaping. As Shoto caused the hole in the dome to freeze back over and creep down Ojiro's arm, however, he knew that his opponent's options were dwindling.

Shoto gripped Ojiro's now-bloody fist with his right hand and began to apply pressure, melting away the top of the dome as he did so to reveal his opponent's pained expression.

"We can keep going if you want, but all that's going to mean for you is more pain and possibly some frostbite." to illustrate his point, Shoto began to freeze Ojiro's right hand.

"Urk! Pain I can handle, Todoroki-san. I'd rather avoid the frostbite though, since being defiant at this point would serve no real purpose other than for my pride." he looked at Midnight, "I surrender!"

"Ojiro has surrendered! Because of this, Todoroki is the victor!"

Shoto took a moment to thaw out Ojiro before leaving the arena, ignoring the applause that he was receiving. That wasn't why he was doing this. It wasn't why he was there.

If he had taken the time to scan the stands, he would have seen the reason he was there standing by one of the top of one of the staircases, arms crossed and expression unreadable. But Shoto did not do this, opting instead to make a beeline for Recovery Girl's temporary office.

His arm hurt, sure, but his gut and back were killing him. That type of damage could linger if one wasn't careful and it was _not_ the time to be a tough guy.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was starting to become interested in the tournament, thanks in no small part to the results of the previous match. As things currently stood, it was guaranteed that he would be fighting either Deku or Half-and-Half in the semifinals. Since those two just so happened to be the ones that he wanted to fight the most, this worked out for him just fine.

If anything, his only complaint was that he wouldn't be able to fight _both_ of them, but hey, can't have everything.

Katsuki honestly had no interest in whoever his second-round opponent would be. Whether it was Glasses or the gearhead, he would have no problems making them eat shit, though if he had to pick, he supposed that Glasses might make for a halfway-decent warm-up before his big fight.

His first match, on the other hand, was one that he needed to watch out for, if only because her Quirk literally allowed her to pull whatever she needed out of her ass. Combine that with the fact that she was skilled in close-quarters along with being the one student in 1-A who was objectively smarter than both him _and_ Deku, and Katsuki had himself an opponent that he couldn't safely ignore.

This was not to say that he didn't have a plan. Katsuki's match was the seventh out of eight in the first round; he had been given _more_ than enough time to figure out what he was going to do.

It was just so goddamn _simplistic_ that after seeing matches like Uraraka's, Deku's and Half-and-Half's that Katsuki felt like he was admitting defeat in some obscure way.

 _Well, whatever. As long as I win in the end, it doesn't really matter, I guess. The important match will be the semifinals; I won't settle for anything less than greatness with that one. Now, show me what you've got, Yaoyorozu!_

" _Greatness awaits and excitement abounds! Let's move right along, Listeners! You'll all recognize this next combatant from the speech he gave before the first event started! Let me assure you that his explosive brashness is matched only by his explosive Quirk! He's Katsuki Bakugo!"_

Katsuki walked onto the field and let off a small pair of explosions to both acknowledge the crowd and show the facts behind Present Mic's words. There was no sense in hiding his Quirk when his opponent already knew what it was, after all.

" _She may very well be the most versatile Hero-in-Training that this broadcaster has ever seen! No piece of equipment is ever out of her reach, since she can just create it on-the-fly! Brains, beauty and a Quirk that can do it all! It almost seems unfair, doesn't it? Let's hear it for Momo Yaoyorozu!"_

Yaoyorozu's applause had more than a few catcalls mixed in and it didn't take long for Katsuki to see why. Apparently, she had decided to forego modesty in favor of more options to make use of her Quirk, because her uniform's top was unzipped, making it resemble a jacket more than anything. This had the side-effect of exposing her torso, a gray bra being the only thing maintaining her modesty. In all honesty, her Hero Costume exposed more, which was part of the reason that Katsuki didn't give a flying fuck about her showing some cleavage.

While she made her way onto the stage, Katsuki subtly turned his hands so that his palms were facing backwards as he slowly began building up the amount of sweat on his palms. As soon as the match started, he needed to get in her face and _stay_ there.

The hell of it was, in any ordinary situation where Momo was aware of who she was fighting, this strategy simply would not work; she would have equipment and possibly traps prepared in advance. That was just the way someone like her would do things.

That type of advance preparation simply wasn't possible in the tournament. They weren't allowed to bring in any outside gear unless they had express permission beforehand and with Yaoyorozu standing half-naked in front of Katsuki, he could clearly see that she had brought nothing but herself and the clothes on her back.

That meant that she would need to start using Creation as soon as possible, unless she was dumb enough to think that she could take Katsuki in a head-on fight when he was using his Quirk which, as previously internally stated, she was certainly _not_.

For all intents and purposes, Katsuki's plan boiled down to "Charge right in there and let her have it. Repeat until unconscious or outside of the ring."

Kirishima would have approved.

"Bakugo, are you ready?" there was Midnight, right on cue.

"I'm not the one you should be worried about."

"I'll take that as a 'yes.' Yaoyorozu, are you ready?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"Very well. Seventh Match: Katsuki Bakugo versus Momo Yaoyorozu! Take your stances…and begin!"

"Blast Rush Turbo!" Katsuki wasted no time in rocketing towards Yaoyorozu who, in spite of having barely any time to react, still managed to produce a crude heater shield on her left forearm just as Katsuki's initial attack landed.

 ***BOOM***

Her arm flew back in an attempt to dissipate some of the force of the explosion. She also used this movement to her advantage, bringing her right hand around to intercept his follow-up attack.

 ***BOOM***

The explosion went wide as Katsuki found his left wrist seized by his opponent, who used his own momentum against him, dragging him by the wrist into a prime position for a back elbow from her right arm as she spun with him.

But if there was one thing that Katsuki Bakugo had in spades, it was his reflexes. If there were _two_ things, they would be his reflexes and his combat sense. These factors allowed him to bend his knees and lean his head forward, avoiding the elbow that was aimed for his head even as he brought his right hand up behind him and let loose another explosion.

 ***BOOM***

"Agh!" he whirled around to see Yaoyorozu rolling to a stop on the concrete stage, now boasting a minorly-singed lower back and missing a chunk of her uniform.

He charged at her once more, not willing to give her any time to recover. His attack had been made hastily and from an awkward angle, so he knew that it wouldn't have been powerful enough to do any real damage. As he approached, his opponent stumbled as she attempted to regain her feet. She twisted, trying to see where he was coming from, but there would be no time for her to react. Katsuki lunged, seizing the opening and-

 ***KRONG***

Suddenly found himself impacting the ground after he was brutally swatted out of the air by a metallic pole that was projecting out of Yaoyorozu's palm.

 _Shit…if I hadn't shifted my shoulder when I did, she would have caught me right in the head with that thing!_

Even as he rolled with the impact and landed in a crouch, Katsuki launched himself back into the fray with Blast Rush Turbo.

 _If she can come up with something like that so quickly, then I_ really _can't give her any breathing room!_

"DIE!"

Katsuki let loose a mighty explosion which, predictably, was blocked by his opponent's shield. He had expected this, however, and immediately let loose a flurry of smaller explosions.

Yaoyorozu was forced back in the face of his assault, blocking or dodging he lion's share of the attacks and only sustaining minor damage from a few glancing blows. Katsuki was aiming to overwhelm her with sheer quantity; a tactic which seemed to be working up until his opponent abruptly dived to one side, hurling the pole at him as she did so.

So, she had figured him out, huh? That was to be expected. At least he forced her to get rid of her weapon.

Katsuki dodged the impromptu javelin easily and bore down upon Yaoyorozu yet again, intending to blow her away once and for all.

What he had _not_ been expecting was for her to rush to meet him. Well, if she wanted to go down swinging, far be it from him to deny her. Katsuki brought his arms to his sides, palm-out as he gathered the necessary power for his finishing move.

"TAKE THI-"

Then she vanished. No, she hadn't vanished, she had dropped to the ground in a picture-perfect sliding kick that took his legs out from underneath him before he was entirely aware of what had happened. She then rolled over, grabbing his leg as she did so and _pulled_ , arresting his forward momentum and bringing him crashing to the ground, letting out a cry of pain that told him she had probably strained something.

In spite of her self-inflicted injury, Katsuki had no doubt that he had come off worse in that exchange. He had avoided having his face smashed into the concrete by bringing his hand up and the last moment, but his arms and torso took the hit full-on.

 ***BOOM***

He wildly launched an explosion behind him, _knowing_ that there was something there and was rewarded with a cry of pain and the clatter of another metal rod hitting the ground as he kipped up, using a secondary explosion to send himself higher as he spun around.

"I hope you're confident in that shield, Yaoyorozu! HOWITZER CANNON!"

She barely had enough time to heed his warning before Katsuki let loose with the most powerful two-handed explosion he could muster.

 ***KABOOOM***

The blast of light and heat was unlike any of his previous ones. It completely blocked the space below him from view, leaving him blind to its effects until the smoke and dust had cleared.

What Katsuki saw was that a large chunk of the arena had been blown away, pieces of debris having flown outwards and scattered themselves around the field. He had been right to put some distance between them before letting that one loose, otherwise he could have done some serious harm to her as well as any audience members that could have been struck by flying chunks of concrete.

As for his opponent, she was groaning as she sat up, having managed to protect her face and torso, but her arms and legs showing signs of damage. She was going to need a new uniform for sure.

Injuries aside, she was most definitely out of the ring at this point.

" _HOLY COW, LISTENERS! That was some serious destruction! Even if Yaoyorozu hadn't been sent out-of-bounds by that attack, it still destroyed nearly a third of the ring! She's lucky to be in one piece after that!"_

" _Luck had nothing to do with it."_ Aizawa corrected, _"There was enough space between them that the explosion had sufficient time to dissipate to well below a potentially-lethal level of force. Even if she hadn't had her shield, the likelihood of any permanent injury occurring was slim."_

"Yaoyorozu is out of what remains of the bounds! The winner is Bakugo!"

Katsuki trudged over to where Yaoyorozu sat on the ground, arms hanging at his sides.

"Oi. You getting up or what?" she looked up at him in surprise, but said nothing, "What's with that stupid-ass look? I got something on my face?"

"No, it's just…"

"What, do I need to spell it out for you? You put up a decent fight and you're still conscious, so it'd be lame if you left the field on a stretcher or something, right? A Hero needs to stand tall at all times, but especially when they're all beat-up. Here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one." he scoffed and held out a hand, "So, get up already."

She took a preparatory breath and nodded to him, taking his proffered hand and using it to help herself stand. As she did so, Katsuki felt himself tense up and give an involuntary grimace as his abused arm screamed at him.

"Bakugo-san, you're-" this apparently did not go unnoticed.

"Shut up. It's fine." he bit back a grunt of pain as he hauled her the rest of the way to her feet, "We just need to get off the field. That's all. Understand?" she nodded to him again as he released her and they made their way to the nearest exit as the crowd applauded and Present Mic said something about sportsmanship or camaraderie or some shit like that. Katsuki just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, making his breaths as shallow as possible and trying not to let his arms sway too much.

Putting that much power into his explosions with out the protection afforded by his Hero Costume inevitably had negative effects on his body, but what he had just produced had been every last bit of strength that he could muster. The shockwave had been felt throughout the entirety of the stands as anything from a strong breeze to a violent wind depending on where one was positioned.

"You said that I put up a decent fight, but really, you were holding back the entire time, weren't you?" Yaoyorozu murmured as they walked, "You could have ended it at any time."

"First Deku and now you. What is it with supposedly-smart people saying stupid shit today?" though he did not make eye-contact, Katsuki knew that she was looking at him, "Clean the crap out of your ears and listen up: If I thought that I had any other option, I'd have taken it. It's not that I decided to stop holding back, it's that you forced me to get serious. You can't be blamed for losing once that happened; I'm gonna be number one, after all."

 _A Hero can't show weakness. A Hero must rise in the face of every challenge. No matter how hurt they get, no matter how much pain they feel, even if every ounce of their energy is spent, a Hero must stand tall in the eyes of the public._

"Bakugo-san…thank you."

"Tch. If you wanna thank me, then keep walking until we're in the tunnel. Beating strong opponents looks better than beating weak ones."

"You know, I think I'm starting to understand you just a little bit better."

"Then you're a moron. I'm not that complicated."

She gave a thoughtful hum, but said nothing else.

 _Show the people that no matter what happens, you won't be taken down. Be the champion that they can always rely on; the ultimate warrior that won't ever lose._

 _That's how you do things._

 _Right, All Might?_

* * *

 **I know I said this up top, but I really am more satisfied with how these fights went. That final bit with Katsuki and Momo wasn't actually planned, but I realized that after she pushed him that far, he'd probably respect her a bit more and, since our Katsuki is a bit nicer than in canon, he'd throw her a bone. This also provided me with a handy way of avoiding her "no self-confidence" problem that she had in canon.**

 **Also, let me just say that writing Momo's fighting style is...a challenge. I don't have any intricate knowledge of Aikido or any other fighting styles that revolve around using an opponent's energy against them, so it's entirely possible that I'm getting something wrong. Obviously this goes for all of my fight scenes and I get a certain amount of license to get away with shit because, well, it's fiction that occasionally runs on anime logic, but still, I try to make my fights at least semi-plausible whenever possible.**

 **Only one match remains in the first round: Mei vs. Tenya! What will happen?! How will things play out?! What will the author do to avoid the fact that this fight is fundamentally the same as canon?! Find out next time!**

 **Also, I haven't forgotten about the contest, so don't worry! It's just going to be a while before I can reveal the winner without spoilers.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	38. Chapter 37: Before the Storm

**Another shorter chapter but, as the title implies, a good chunk of it serves as buildup. Also, we passed the 1,500 Follows and 1,200 Favorites marks at some point which, as always, is awesome.**

 **Review time:**

 **sunsetskywrites : I do enjoy getting into character's heads in a way that canon just can't due to the limits of the medium. As for how Hagakure got attached to Todoroki, it really all started when I decided to have her actually DO something during the USJ arc and had entirely too much fun writing the two of them interacting with each other. Everything has pretty much just progressed organically from that point. Like you said, their personalities play well with one another.**

 **Berserker Singh : No offense taken, this is all really good stuff. I do agree that Torchbearer and Viridescent are fundamentally different stories and I wouldn't have it any other way. I think the main reason that my action scenes are less frequent is because, in the same number of words, I've covered less than half of what he has in terms of events. I'm still in the Sports Festival while he's already in post-Provisional License Exam territory. I guess you could call Torchbearer more of a slice-of-life type of story since I don't really skip much if I can help it.**

 **inFamousSlyMonkey : There will certainly be a lot of stuff happening with the dorms once we get there. Hopefully my version of the Izuku v. Shoto fight lives up to your expectations.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : I think that Shoto is a lot more self-aware than he seems at first, it's just that his pride and anger make it difficult for him to change. He's a lot like his father in that regard. I'm really doing everything I can here to build IcyHot up to a boiling point that he can't come back down from, so you'll probably get your answer as to what happens when he snaps. As for Ashido, I think it was a combination of excitement and just enjoying hearing Izuku's predictions. She, like most of the class, finds them interesting. As for Present Mic, he wasn't purposefully ignoring Shoto's hard work, he was just hamming it up for the crowd since elemental master vs. martial artist is a real underdog-type fight and everyone loves those. A similar situation was when he referred to Shiozaki as an "Assassin" in canon just to add to the drama.**

 **It's funny that you should mention Shoto's tactical error, since I put it in there on purpose for future use. The ice dome wasn't as thick as the one he used in the second event, but it was still at least a few inches thick. Enough to serve as protection against Ojiro's tail-leap punch anyway. Katsuki is many things, but he's certainly not so arrogant that he'll completely ignore a credible threat such as Momo. Katsuki is unaffected mostly because it's fightin' time and that's basically his favorite time. Plus, like he internally mentioned, her Hero Costume shows more skin. If Momo were to walk around naked...I'm not sure. It wouldn't take away his will to fight, but it'd be hard to ignore a bombshell like that. I have no doubts that if Momo was given some prep-time, the fight could have gone very, very differently.**

 **I do think that Momo can create items while already wearing them based on the fact that she creates a shield already attached to her arm and a metal pole already in her hand in canon during her fight with Tokoyami. Granted, these are both very simple things so it is entirely possible that for more complex wearables she would require a greater amount of finesse. It is probably also easier to generate larger items from areas where her fat deposits are naturally greater, such as her torso and thighs, though she is capable of producing an item from any part of her body. We see Katsuki pushing himself to the limit of what he can safely do during his and Izuku's midterm fight against All Might where he sequentially fires off super explosions. I figured that I'd show more of what that's like for him and re-emphasize why his Hero Costume is so vital to his success. Obviously, he'll get better over time like everyone will, but still.**

 **Slayer76, D3lph0xL0v3r, avidreaded, LioPyro7890, Oobserver, uchihaNaruto247, Mrguy22594, Dark White Fang, EDelta88, Guest, Guest2, The Keeper of Worlds, TheStoryWever, FabulousMoonie, MrHustle42, shankekg, Guest3, ForbiddenFandom, BlazerBug and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's see how Iida is dealing with his pre-match waiting period.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Before the Storm

Tenya Iida was glad that his Quirk did not involve having eye-lasers, otherwise he would have likely destroyed both his glasses and the wall of the waiting room that he was currently staring at. He had plenty of spare glasses, as they ended up broken fairly often as it was, but the wall was school property and would therefore amount to an intolerable level of collateral damage from something so trivial as pre-battle nerves.

Tenya had not, as most of his classmates had, left the stands when the match before his had started, reasoning that he would have plenty of time to make it down to the field after it ended. As a result, he had witnessed a very exciting bout between two of the most skilled members of Class 1-A and, as the saying went, his blood was up. Tenya considered this to be a good frame of mind to have when going into a battle and was grateful to his classmates for it.

Indeed, in addition to this, he had been quite correct about having more than enough time to make it down to the field. This was not due to his efficient gait or accurate time measurements, however; it was because the ring had been partially destroyed by Bakugo's finishing move.

This left Tenya in a pickle: he was peak condition for his fight against Mei Hatsume, but he was being forced to wait extra time before the match, during which he could easily cool down. So, there Tenya sat, doing his very best to keep himself in "battle mode" as it were. To his credit, he seemed to be succeeding.

"Hey, knock knock! I'm coming in so I hope you're decent!"

…Or at least he _had_ been before his opponent-to-be had decided to let herself in to his waiting room as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Hatsume-san, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be in Waiting Room A if I recall correctly."

"Am I? If I was in there, I wouldn't have been able to talk to you though. My plan wouldn't have worked then, so that's a no-go." she flipped a chair around and sat backwards in it, resting her forearms on the back.

…And _this_ , ladies and gentlemen, was why the combatants had assigned waiting rooms.

"Your 'plan?' You seem to be suggesting that you intend to sabotage me, Hatsume-san."

She waved a hand at him dismissively, completely ignoring his accusatory stare.

"Of course I'm not! I'm not like the rest of you Hero wannabes who made it to the final event, you know? I'm a member of the Department of Support, so my metrics for success are different from yours." she cocked her head and gave him a bright smile, "What I really care about is showing the big companies what my cute, cute babies can do!"

"Er, 'babies,' did you say?"

"You bet! I've got so, so many that it would be next to _impossible_ to show them all off by myself, especially not in the span of a single match! That's why I came to find you!"

At this point, Tenya was beginning to become less suspicious and more… _suspicious_.

"Hatsume-san, I'm going to have to ask you to elaborate because it _sounds_ like you want me to use some of your equipment."

"Well, I guess that rules out the hearing amplifiers then, huh?"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Tensei Iida, known to the world at large as the Turbo Hero: Ingenium, was running through his pre-mission checklist one last time. Every job was potentially dangerous, even the ones that appeared to be nothing more than corner store robberies or car jackings. A seasoned Hero such as Tensei knew this all too well, but even so he was being uncommonly careful with this particular assignment.

To be fair, the reason for his caution was a good one: They were going after the Hero Killer. He had been sighted in Hosu recently and it just so happened that, with the U.A. Sports Festival taking place that day, Ingenium was both the closest and most well-equipped in terms of gear and personnel for this particular manhunt.

"Comms check." Tensei said absently as he finished re-adjusting the armor that comprised his Hero Costume for the sixth or seventh time.

" _For heaven's sake, Iida!"_ a male voice crackled to life in his ear via the communications device that was integrated with his helmet, _"Quit it with the checks already! You're gonna make people nervous! Not me, of course, but still!"_

" _Ara, what's the matter, Iai?"_ a sensuous female voice responded, _"Is someone afraid of the big bad Hero Killer? Don't worry, big sister is here to protect you~"_

" _Bite me, Kogane!"_

" _Now, now,"_ a deep, soothing voice chided, _"the two of you know better than to start bickering before a mission such as this. Keep it up and I'll have to give you both a big hug."_

" _Ack! No! No, there's no need for that!"_ Iai protested immediately.

" _Ara, as much as I enjoy being held by a big, strong man, I'm afraid that your reputation proceeds you, Hoyo."_

" _I am here, sir."_ Tick.

" _I am also here, sir."_ Tock.

"Roger that."Tensei acknowledged the pair of crisp, professional voices that belonged to the twins, "That just leaves one more. How are you adjusting to the comm system, newbie?"

" _It's working, I think."_ the young man was clearly feeling awkward as he responded via comms to someone who was standing barely five feet away from him.

"Alright. We're commencing the operation in ten minutes. Take care of any remaining prep." satisfied that the comms system was doing its job in allowing him to communicate with his Sidekicks, Tensei momentarily switched his device off to allow for a more private word with the newest member of their team.

"Sir," the young man pre-empted him, however, "I don't want to seem ungrateful or skeptical of your methods, but…why me? You have _dozens_ of Sidekicks that you could have chosen for this mission, but instead you brought those five and, well…" he trailed off.

"Don't worry," Tensei reassured him, "Team Idaten has always had an open-door policy. Any of our employees, from secretaries to Sidekicks, can feel free to come to me or any of the other higher-ups at any time, for any reason. Now, as for your question, I have two main reasons."

Tensei took a moment to finish composing his thoughts while his companion gave him his undivided attention.

"First, the Hero Killer doesn't know that we're here. Doubtless he knows that _someone_ will be coming after him, but he has no way of knowing that it will be Team Idaten in particular. As much as I would have liked to bring more than just the seven of us, had I done so the odds of him noticing that something is amiss become intolerably high."

The young man nodded, accepting this.

"As for why I chose the six of you in particular…well, it really came down to who could handle themselves well both alone and as members of small teams. The alleyways of Hosu are like a maze and can occasionally become a bit of a tight squeeze. Combine this with the Hero Killer's reported high level of mobility and coming at him from a single direction is merely inviting him to escape."

"I understand what you mean when it comes to those five. Even as a Sidekick, Iai is famous for being one of Team Idaten's go-to frontline fighters. Tick and Tock are so in-sync on a day-to-day basis that I can only imagine how flawless their teamwork must be and as for Kogane and Hoyo…"

"I'm guessing that one look was all you needed."

"Ah, yes." he nodded, "Having said that, sir, I don't really understand why you brought _me_ of all people."

"It's because of your probation, right?"

"I…yes. It's just that…how can you _trust_ me? It's only been about a month since the USJ incident and yet here you are, bringing me on, if we're being realistic here, a life-or-death mission!"

"USJ, huh? There were seventy-two Villains taken into custody that day. Did you know that?" Tensei looked over just in time to see his nervous companion shake his head.

"I knew that there were a lot of us, but…I guess it all kind of spiraled out of control at some point. I never knew exactly how many of us there were. I'm not sure anyone really knew…or cared."

"Each of those Villains was individually interrogated over the course of the next few days by a specialized police unit. I believe you are personally familiar with this process?"

"Yes." he nodded, "The detective in charge of the process seemed really tired. His whole team did, really, but he just seemed really burnt out."

"No surprise, since Detective Tsukauchi personally interrogated every single member of the League of Villains' infiltration unit. Well, except for the two that escaped, of course. He has a gift for finding the truth, you see. This gift of his came in rather handy when it came time for _your_ interview, I'm sure you can imagine."

Kushi "Spike" Yari. Age seventeen. Quirk: Spikes.

Part of the reason that the interview process took so long, apart from the fact that there were just so many individuals to be questioned, was that, before each of them was seen, Tsukauchi and his team looked over the hastily-compiled dossier that had been provided by the records department. Kushi's, as it turned out, had been rather detailed.

He had been born to a low-class family that lived in the city. He had gone through elementary school and middle school without incident, but instead of attending high school he had entered the workforce in order to help his family. Shortly after he had done this, his father was killed in a freak accident, leaving the Yari's in a dire situation. As a young and unskilled member of the workforce, Kushi was unable to earn enough to compensate for the loss of his father. So, he turned to crime.

Over the course of the next year or so, Kushi was implicated in several incidences of small-time robbery and the occasional bit of gang violence, but the police had never managed to capture him and he was a small enough threat that the local Heroes were usually busy dealing with bigger issues.

It had been at around this time that Kushi was strong-armed into joining the League of Villains scarcely a week before their planned attack on USJ. The leader of the small gang that helped him with his getaways in exchange for a cut of whatever he stole had been enticed by whatever Tomura Shigaraki had offered him and had dragged Spike along for the ride.

The young convict had been highly cooperative during his interview, answering whatever questions he was asked to the best of his ability. More than that, Tsukauchi had noted in his report that he seemed genuinely remorseful for what he had been a part of and had been visibly relieved when it was revealed that, apart from a few injuries, the teachers and students of U.A. were doing well.

Given his truthfulness, remorse, cooperation and field experience, Tsukauchi had flagged him as a potential candidate for the Antihero program. This program was geared towards rehabilitating former Villains and converting them into a part of the Hero force. When he was given the option, Kushi had agreed after a short period of consideration. He was put up as a probationary Sidekick and Team Idaten had snapped him right up. He had since spent the past few weeks working and training alongside members of the team, being closely monitored the whole time.

Tensei had personally sent weekly reports to Tsukauchi detailing his progress and, to be frank, he was rather pleased. The boy needed to work on his physical conditioning, to be certain; he would have been skin and bones if not for the layer of lean, corded muscle that covered his body. Even so, the first order of business after Tensei had met him had been to get him a burger and an appointment with Team Idaten's dietician.

Naturally, as an employee of Team Idaten, which was a government-sponsored company, the Yari family was entitled to receive federal aid once Kushi's probationary period ended as well. Tensei had never seen anyone sign a piece of paper so quickly in his life and made a note to add a test for enhanced speed and/or reflexes to the gauntlet of examinations that Kushi would have to go through.

It had only been a few weeks, but in that time Kushi had demonstrated a willingness to learn, a desire to help and a level of commitment to self-improvement that bordered on zealous. When he was asked what drove him apart from the benefits of working at Team Idaten, he had responded that he had been inspired by a someone he had met at USJ.

"You want to know why I brought you along with me despite having only known you for a few weeks?" Tensei confirmed.

Spike nodded, a searching look in his sharp eyes.

"I could say that it's because of the offensive nature of your Quirk. I could say that this is a trial by fire where you'll prove once and for all if you deserve a second chance. I could say that the overall combat prowess that you've demonstrated was high enough to make you a candidate for this particular mission. All of those things would be true."

"But that's not why?"

"No. I'm afraid that my main reason is somewhat more selfish than that." Tensei smiled at the young man, though he could not see it through his helmet, "It's because I have faith in you. Not in the man you were, but in the man you could still become. You know what it's like to be desperate, to fight for your survival and take any opportunity given to you. You have enough riding on this that I know that if push comes to shove, you'll kick, claw, bite, scream and do whatever else it takes to make sure that you survive for the sake of your family. You've got grit and, as much as I pray that I'm wrong, I have a feeling that we're going to need that before this mission is over."

"So," Tensei concluded as the timer in his helmet's HUD ticked down, "can I trust you with my back, Spike?"

A grim nod was all the response that Tensei received, but at the same time, it was all that he needed.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was thoroughly bemused and judging from the reactions of the crowd and the commentary being provided by Present Mic, he wasn't the only one.

The bizarre match had started with Iida entering the arena decked-out in various pieces of equipment that had apparently been created by Hatsume. He had explained that she had offered to lend him some equipment out of a sense of fair play and to more properly display her work in a practical setting, which had won over Midnight quite handily.

Then Hatsume had hijacked the speakers and things had started to go downhill.

"Well, Listeners, I must say that this has been an interesting set of occurrences!" Present Mic, not currently having access to the speaker system, was using his Quirk to make himself heard, "It would seem that the match has devolved into a showcase of Hatsume's inventions as she mercilessly hawks them to every company representative currently in attendance while Iida does his best to keep the fight going!"

" _Alright, you big support companies! I know this next one isn't for everyone, but I think a few of you could appreciate the potential!"_

"Hey, someone check if they're both sixteen or not; I'm not entirely sure that's legal."

"Tch, this is turning into a joke," Kacchan scoffed, "she could've ended this at any time, but instead she's jerking him around for the sake of showing off all of her crazy shit. I'm not sure she even _wants_ to win."

"Yeah." Izuku agreed, "I mean, she _did_ say that she was from the Support Department, so maybe to her getting to show off her inventions _is_ winning?"

"Come on, Deku. Winning is winning. Even a three-year-old could tell you that."

"Weren't you the one who said that everyone here has their own goals that they want to achieve?"

"No, that was _you_ that said that. I was just saying that you said that."

"But in saying that I said that, wouldn't you also technically be saying that since you said what I was saying?"

"Deku, don't be stupid. Saying what I said when I said what you were saying doesn't mean that I took ownership of it. I was just saying that someone _said_ what I was saying when I was saying that someone said what I was saying. Don't take it out of context."

"Says you."

"I don't know what _either_ of you is saying, if that makes you feel any better." Kirishima said.

"What, you couldn't follow that?" Ashido cocked her head at him.

"What do you mean 'what?' Are you saying you _could_ follow that?!"

"I mean, _I_ could." Hagakure shrugged, "It's not that complicated if you just pay attention."

"I followed it at the beginning, but Bakugo completely lost me." Sero admitted.

"Why are they making a big deal out of this?" Izuku wondered aloud before looking to his girlfriend for support, "Uraraka-san, it wasn't that complicated, was it?"

"I feel like I'm trying to solve one of Cementoss-sensei's surprise math problems…do two 'says' make a 'said?'"

"Actually, I think this is an interesting way of finding out who has a gift for language skills." Yaoyorozu pondered, "I had to replay it a couple of times in my head to be sure."

"You guys are weird." Shinso opined.

"Well, if everything goes our way, you'll get used to it." Kaminari grinned before glancing and the field and losing control of his jaw and eye muscles.

"Oh, MY, Listeners! I'm not sure if we're allowed to air that on network television but we're _live_ so it's going out anyway! Parental guidance is suggested, but such is life, eh?"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Somewhere else, in a room with a TV which, much like many others, was currently airing the live feed of the U.A. Sports Festival, one Minoru Mineta was doing his best not to die from a nosebleed brought on by the numerous things that Iida was being subjected to at the hands, arms, legs, feet, front and rear of the bodacious Mei Hatsume.

"Iida…you son of a bitch…I will have my revenge!"

" _Midnight, you need to stay at your post! Get off the stage!"_

"No, no, Midnight, don't listen to him! Do it! Do what you're thinking and _more_!"

" _Midnight, don't make Cementoss get out of his chair. You_ know _what's coming if he gets out of that chair!"_

"FHQDLSSHDSFODSBRRNAAAAH!"

Mineta was found unconscious later with a half-empty box of tissues and dried foam encrusting the edges of his mouth.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The crowd watched as Mei Hatsume, who had completely dominated the so-called fight for the past quarter of an hour, relinquished control of the arena's speakers and began to walk out of the ring.

"Well, I'm more than satisfied now."

"You're _what_?!"

"I've said all I have to say. I've shown off every feasible piece of gear that I have with me, so now it's all up to the support companies to make the logical decision." she glanced back at Tenya, "I'm not heartless, you know? I've done what I came here to do, so now I'll step down and let you do what _you_ came here to do. After all, I won't get any business from you if you don't become a Hero, right? Do your best for me and my babies too, got it?"

Tenya was honestly a little touched by this. He had been under the impression that Hatsume had manipulated him entirely for her own gains, but at the end of the day she was never truly an obstacle to him if what she was saying was true.

"I must apologize to you, Hatsume-san. I had believed you to be devoid of honor, but it seems that I simply judged you by the wrong standards."

"Plus," Hatsume added as she stepped out of the ring, apparently not having heard Tenya, "the further you go in the tournament, the better me and my babies will look by comparison! Hohohohohoho~"

At that moment, Tenya wondered what the current world record was for misjudging someone in a set span of time, because he had managed to misjudge Mei Hatsume three times in the past half hour alone.

"Hatsume has voluntarily exited the ring! This constitutes a surrender and as such the winner of the final match of the first round is Iida!" Midnight announced.

" _Well, it sure is good to be back, Listeners!" Present Mic's voice once again emanated from the speakers, "And not a moment too soon! The second round is right around the corner and let me tell you, I think we're in for some more pulse-pounding action! Match One will be Fumikage Tokoyami versus Mezo Shoji! Match Two sees Eijiro Kirishima facing off against Denki Kaminari! Match Three will be Izuku Midoriya versus Shoto Todoroki! Finally, Match Four will have Katsuki Bakugo duking it out with Tenya Iida! Stay excited, don't touch that dial and if your TV has a dial, maybe consider getting a new TV!"_

* * *

 **We've finally gotten through the entirety of Round One, so now we're getting into "good stuff" territory. On top of that, we've got Ingenium preparing to go hunting for the Hero Killer, but this time he's brought along some help! You know, because that's how Team Idaten works! It always irked me that they made such a big deal about all of his Sidekicks in canon and then had him go into that fight solo. Needless to say we're going to be seeing more of his battle with Stain than in canon and yes, it will be bloody.**

 **Here's a fun little something for you guys to chew on: See if you can guess what Iai, Kogane, Hoyo, Tick and Tock's Quirks are. I don't realistically expect anyone to get them all correct but hey, you guys have surprised me before. In the interest of fairness, I will say that I am horrible at naming things and so adopted the Horikoshi method of giving them completely non-subtle names, particularly in the case of Kogane and Hoyo.**

 **Speaking of uninspired names, Spike is back! Props to any of you who can actually remember him, especially since he was never officially named in the story until now. So, with Round Two of the tournament on the horizon and Team Idaten's hunt for Stain about to commence, how much of a mess is this shit going to make when it hits the fan? Who will advance to the Semifinals? Will Mineta's poor, abused junk ever be the same? Find out the answers to SOME of these questions next time!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	39. Chapter 38: Layers

**Here we are again! My apologies to those of you who were off-put by last week not having a chapter, but that will probably become a more common occurrence going forward since I very recently gained a couple more things that will be taking up some of my time. Fortunately, I foresaw this possibility which is why I set my hard deadline per chapter at two weeks all the way back when I started Torchbearer. I have been able to post basically every week up until this point, but that has been due to favorable circumstances.**

 **I want to re-iterate: DO NOT worry that I am discontinuing Torchbearer or that I am losing interest in it. Neither of these is the case. I am simply falling back onto the safety net that I left for myself way back in May 2018.**

 **With that, it's review time:**

 **Robotdocter, sunsetskywrites, avidreaded, D3lph0xL0v3r, SeanPennname, BlazerBug : Several of you have taken a stab at guessing the Sidekicks' Quirks and for the most part you're on the money. I will say that Tick and Tock don't do exactly what you think they do. Try thinking about their names more literally and you'll get it!  
**

 **Slayer76, avidreaded, Reverseflash, CaedmonCousland, Mrguy22594, uchihaNaruto247, D3lph0xL0v3r, inFamousSlyMonkey : As expected, a lot of you are hyped for Tensei vs. Stain and more Stain in general. You can definitely look forward to Tensei not just getting punked off-screen like he did in canon. We're really going to get a look at what Ingenium can do...in an incredibly cramped, close-quarters environment. Shit. It'll still be better than canon!  
**

 **ILiekFishes : It took me a minute to remember who you were talking about XD No, unnamed "Hey, is that All Might?" guy is not Spike. Spike is the guy that Eijiro headbutted back during USJ, though he was unnamed at the time. Unless I'm mistaken, he was actually the first OC that I introduced.**

 **Yung Warrior : Thank you! I really enjoy writing from multiple POV's since it both gives me an excuse to flesh out various characters and explore certain aspects of the story that we wouldn't otherwise get to see. As for Endeavor, he will certainly have a much bigger role than in canon. I feel sort of bad making him a tagged character and then showing so little of him, but his time will come!**

 **C_J_Robbins : I'm glad that someone brought this up! No, Spike is not Soga from Vigilantes. I had briefly considered using him, but I wanted someone younger so I created an OC instead. Their Quirks are, of course, similar, though Spike has a few tricks up his sleeve that Soga (as far as I know) doesn't.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : I think of Tenya's "battle mode" as more a state of focus than anything. He is not one who naturally revels in the fight or even necessarily enjoys it all that much, as you've realized, so he needs to warm up his internal engine as much as his external ones. Sort of like meditation. Mei was just...being Mei. Whether she would have actually cared or not...maybe? She was already in saleswoman mode at that point, so she might have been able to ignore it. She's a _very_ driven individual, after all.  
**

 **I'm not honestly sure if Ingenium was actively hunting Stain in canon or not. There is a brief bit where he is in communication with his squads, so they were certainly looking for _something_. Whether it was Stain or not is anyone's guess. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I hate how little attention Tensei gets in canon after Tenya and Izuku hype him up so much. He only existed to show off how much of a threat Stain was. I imagine that Mei was showing off various restraining devices and the like and demonstrating how they could be used after having grounded her opponent. Whatever it was it certainly involved lots of physical contact.**

 **As for Cementoss, they sort of offhandedly mention that, in the modern world, his power is the real deal. I can only imagine what sort of havoc he could wreak if someone pissed him off. Fortunately, he's a pretty nice guy. The Horikoshi naming method refers to the fact that his names are very, very unimaginative. We're talking "Big McLargeHuge" levels of subtlety here. It sounds cool and exotic because the majority of overseas fans aren't fluent in Japanese, myself included, but if you read the translation notes on the wiki, for example, you'll see what I mean.**

 **Sherlock D Holmes : I totally hear where you're coming from and I can see how you would feel the way you do about certain things, even if I don't necessarily agree with them. I will say that we haven't seen the last of Mineta, however. I didn't offscreen him just because he's not my favorite, but more so because I needed his seat to be vacant for someone that the majority of MHA fans like much more than him. As for having localized certain aspects of Japanese culture...well, yeah. I'm not Japanese and I've never lived in Japan. If I tried to write Japanese culture accurately I'd probably come across as a total weeaboo who doesn't know what he's talking about. If it doesn't feel asian then that's because I never intended for it to feel that way. Plus, it's the year 2222, so who's to say what may have changed?**

 **I appreciate your feedback and I hope that this helped you to understand why I did certain things the way I did them.**

 **bhennen : Ah, excellent! I will certainly give your story a read.**

 **Berserker Singh, The Keeper of Worlds, MrHustle42, Eramis8, Ooobserver, Frogboss1011, edwin147, Creston Khor and everyone else: Thank you and I hope you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's get back to your regularly-scheduled match, already in-progress!**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Layers

Mezo Shoji had his foot on the metaphorical gas pedal and was beginning to run low on fuel. He had known from the beginning that his battle against Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, while it would be incredibly _simple_ , would by no means be _easy_. The bird-headed boy and his sentient Quirk were doing absolutely nothing to disabuse him of this notion. Quite the opposite, really.

Mezo had kicked things off by charging at his opponent, meeting Dark Shadow in the center of the ring in a clash of fists and talons. Mezo had intended to power his way through the mass of intelligent darkness and either force Tokoyami to surrender or throw him off of the stage and while he had certainly succeeded in the first part of his plan, the second was thwarted when it was revealed that Tokoyami had anticipated his course of action and had bolted while Mezo was distracted by Dark Shadow.

 _He has clearly learned from his match with Uraraka-san. That is both fortunate and unfortunate. Well, I suppose that only leaves me with one course of action. Nuanced combat really isn't my forte, is it?_

It had been at that point that Mezo had elected to focus his offense on Dark Shadow in an attempt to determine what weaknesses the Quirk possessed, if any. He would need to observe his opponents carefully in order to be able to exploit whatever openings they presented to him.

The results were not encouraging. Not only was Dark Shadow both powerful and maneuverable, he was also incredibly durable by virtue of apparently being impervious to physical harm. Either that or he was just plain tough enough to shrug off Mezo's most powerful blows without batting an eye. He doubted this, however.

If it had been only Dark Shadow, then Mezo might not have been as concerned. There were, after all, myriad ways of dealing with more powerful, though not necessarily more skilled, opponents. Indeed, had Mezo not trained alongside Tokoyami since he had started attending U.A., he may have made the mistake of discounting the bird-headed boy. As it was, however, he knew better.

While Tokoyami may not have been physically imposing, he made up for that with cunning and proficient use of his Quirk, always doing his best to make sure that he was optimally positioned in relation to his opponent. On the surface, it appeared that a pure melee fighter such as Mezo had zero chance of getting close to him.

Then he had slipped.

No, that was inaccurate; the fault was not Tokoyami's alone. Rather, Tokoyami had shifted one way and Dark Shadow had gone the other for a brief moment before correcting himself. Therein lied Mezo's chance: their teamwork wasn't perfect. They each possessed their own will and reasoning and, while they knew each other as well as any two beings could by virtue of having lived their entire lives together, they weren't mind-readers. Given enough time and pressure, they would slip up and _that_ would provide Mezo with the chance he needed.

It was with this reasoning that Mezo had abandoned all semblance of pacing and launched an all-out assault on the pair. They had been slow to react to his sudden change of pace at first, which had very nearly allowed him to close the gap before getting walloped by Dark Shadow. After that, the fight had devolved into a fast-paced battle of attrition between the two sides.

Before long, Mezo had begun to feel the telltale burning of his muscles and lungs. This was to be expected. After all, his style revolved around observation and reactions which would allow him to overwhelm his opponent while expending a minimum amount of physical energy. His great strength allowed him to effectively use this method, since the average opponent would be felled after one or two of his strikes, or at the very least be significantly damaged enough to hinder their performance.

Such was not the case with Dark Shadow and Tokoyami, while he _was_ expending energy, he was doubtless doing so and a much lower rate than Mezo by virtue of his lighter frame and the fact that he was focused entirely on mobility instead of attacking.

Mezo, having reached his final conclusion, ceased his assault and backstepped out of Dark Shadow's immediate reach.

" **Huh? Hey, what gives? Things were starting to get interesting there!"** the sentient Quirk complained as Tokoyami watched Mezo steadily.

"This battle is over." Mezo declared, "I could continue at this pace for perhaps another half-minute, but after that, fatigue would have taken enough of a toll on me that my movements would be slowed to the point where even if you presented me with an opening, I would likely not be able to take advantage of it quickly enough. If I wished to spite you, then I could continue for the sole purpose of running you ragged in order to prevent you from being in peak condition during your semifinal match, but I do not believe myself to be quite that petty. Therefore, I surrender."

"Mezo Shoji has announced his surrender!" Midnight broadcasted, "Because of this, Fumikage Tokoyami is the winner!"

" _Well, Listeners, there you have it!"_ Present Mic boomed, _"My, for a moment it looked as though we were going to have another Kirishima versus Tetsutetsu match on our hands, didn't it? Actually, now that I think about it, this might actually be the most bloodless match that we've had so far! Shoji took a couple of shots there, but he doesn't look any worse for wear! How's that for a change of pace, Listeners?"_

The crowd answered with applause, though Shoji could tell that it wasn't at the same elated level as some of the more exciting bouts. He didn't blame them; his surrender was fairly anticlimactic.

Oh, well. The tournament was never going to be the best showcase of his abilities anyway: the first and second events had more than accomplished that in Mezo's opinion. He was, after all, a team player. Even so, it was good to show that he could stand on his own when he needed to.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Denki Kaminari had learned from his previous mistake and was currently high-tailing it down to the ring before his name was called. He was nervous about facing off against a powerhouse like Kirishima, of course, but it was nothing compared to the level of pants-shitting terror that he had worked himself up into before his match against Shinso.

He had done his best to project an air of confidence while he was still in the stands and a couple of his classmates had asked him why he hadn't headed down to the waiting rooms yet. He had laughed it off and told them not to worry, that their Class President would be just fine.

" _If anything, it'll help get my blood pumping a bit before the match! Besides, what's the point in getting myself all worked-up in the waiting room when I could be enjoying another match instead?"_

The majority of his classmates had seemed to buy it. Strangely enough, the one who had given him one last searching look before turning back to the field had been the one who was currently unable to hear him and should, consequently, have been the one least-able to call him out on his bullshit.

Ah, well. It wasn't like Jiro needed a reason to bust someone's balls after all, _especially_ not his. Hell, if he cocked his head and squinted his eyes a bit, it almost looked like she cared.

"Heheheh." Denki couldn't stop himself from chuckling as he power walked down the long hallway, "Some leader I turned out to be, huh? I can't do anything unless it's by the seat of my pants. Heaven help me if it wasn't for getting a guy like Midoriya to help me out, eh?"

It wasn't self-pity that Denki was currently feeling, nor was it the sudden upsurge of wounded pride that many others might have felt in his position. It was just his honest opinion on the matter and he found it to be legitimately funny that a bumbling guy like himself had managed to land such a position. Jiro had been more correct than she had known when she had referred to him as Class 1-A's front man.

Really, at the end of the day, that was all he was: a front man. Someone who did his best to project the image that he wanted the world to see in the hopes that he might someday be able to _become_ the person that he pretended to be. Casual, carefree and confident in his ability to deal with whatever the world threw at him. It was a tall order and, to be frank, it wasn't a goal that Denki thought he could ever truly achieve.

But…maybe he could get closer to it. Maybe one day he would look back on where he had once been and see that he had managed to take a step or two in the right direction. Hey, miracles happened _sometimes_ , right?

A wry grin made its way onto Denki's face as Present Mic announced his name, providing his cue to walk up to the ring where Kirishima was already waiting for him.

"Yo." Denki waved to his opponent as he approached his starting spot, "How're you feeling after that slobberknocker you had before? Up for a round with your President?"

"I think I can manage. How about you? Got your brain un-scrambled?"

"Come on, dude. You should know by now that I've always got a few screws loose; it's my secret to success!" Kirishima's sharp-toothed grin faltered a bit at that.

"Sorry, man. I can't really banter all that good right now. I've got a bit more riding on this match than you know about, so I can't go losing here." This prompted Denki to sober up a bit too.

"Huh. Guess that makes two of us, then. Sorry, Kirishima, but I can't just go handing this match over to you. You're gonna have to take it from me. It just leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth to go up against a buddy all serious-like, you know?"

The two young men stared at each other for a moment before Kirishima gave a nod of acknowledgement.

"Yeah, something's gone and lit a fire under your ass, hasn't it? Guess I really shouldn't hold anything back."

"No hard feelings?"

"Nah. We're cool. Good luck to whichever manly soul wins this thing."

"Phew. Good to know: I'm gonna need it."

"Kirishima, are you ready?"

"Let's do this." Kirishima acknowledged Midnight.

"Kaminari, are you ready?"

"It's showtime." Denki grimaced.

"Very well! Take your stances…and begin!"

Denki ran at Kirishima, having selected what was easily the second-craziest of the handful of half-baked ideas his brain had come up with in the past minute or so. Clearly his opponent thought so too, as his eyes widened for a moment before he regained his composure and activated Hardening, prepared to receive Denki's opening blow.

Denki, remembering one of Ojiro's first lessons on basic strikes, opted for a palm strike instead of a punch that would have injured his knuckles on Kirishima's hardened skin. He also implemented the crux of his plan, which was to coat his body in electricity just before his attack landed in order to take Kirishima by surprise.

"Gyaah!"

The strike itself was nothing to write home about, but the electricity had apparently done its job as Kirishima's body seized and caused him to take a step backwards to prevent himself from falling.

"Well, would you take a look at that." Denki said as he took a step forward and shoved Kirishima hard in the chest with both of his hands before he could completely recover, causing him to fall on his ass, "It looks like Hardening isn't going to help you much against my Electrification. Lucky me."

"That's fine." Kirishima grimaced as he stood up, shaking himself to get rid of the lingering effects of the electricity, "This means you can actually put up a fight against me. I'll be honest, I was a bit worried about that. It wouldn't have felt manly to go all-out against a guy who couldn't fight back, but now I don't need to worry about that anymore!"

Kaminari charged straight at Denki, who immediately flared his electrical armor in an attempt to cause his opponent to hesitate.

* **POW** *

It didn't work. Denki was sent crashing to the floor, ears ringing from the crushing blow his head had just suffered.

"Agh!"

The attack had been a double-edged sword, however. Whatever sort of follow-up Kirishima might have had planned was dashed when Denki's electricity had surged up his arm, causing the limb to snap back involuntarily as the muscles contracted. This gave the showman the time he needed to regain his senses and roll into a crouch, reigniting his electrical armor even as a buzz that had nothing to do with the punch he had just taken began to fill his ears.

 _Great. So, this is going to be_ that _kind of fight. I can't just wait until he gasses himself or_ I'll _be the one who drops first. I need to hit him fast and hard without frying my brain in the process. I need a clean hit though, or it won't work._

To make things worse, his opponent's guard was up now. He knew that Denki could hurt him and he wasn't taking any chances.

Great. That left the _craziest_ option.

"Hey, Kirishima?"

"What?"

"I don't suppose I could get you to surrender, could I? It's just that this is probably _really_ going to hurt and I'd rather not have to do it."

"Getting a bit cocky if you think you'll hurt me that bad, aren't you?"

"Not you, dude. Me."

Denki then stood up straight and tapped his chest with a fist to illustrate his point.

"Shit. So that's how you wanna do this, huh? A winner-take-all game of chicken?"

"I really, _really_ don't want to, but you're not giving me much of a chance here without frying my brain and what's the point in winning if I do that?"

"Better a win than a loss." Kirishima reasoned as he cracked his neck and shifted closer to Denki.

"Not if it stops me from winning the next match too. I'm not just aiming to win this match, Kirishima. I'm aiming for the finals. The whole thing, if I can."

"Hey, good on you, man. Shooting for the top is a manly thing for sure, but you never really struck me as the type that cared that much about that kind of thing."

"I really don't." Denki admitted while he steeled himself for what would likely be the worst pain he had ever felt, "But it's not for me."

Then the two leapt at each other. Kirishima's right fist went shooting towards Denki's chest and Denki gritted his teeth and intercepted it with his left elbow.

* **CRACK** *

A sickening crunch and a sudden shock of pain that made Denki's stomach turn emanated from his now-broken arm even as Kirishima's arm snapped back from the last-second surge of electricity that Denki had sent through his limb. His opponent had expected something like this and his left arm was already streaking upwards towards Denki's gut.

 _It's now or never!_

Denki, instead of attempting to dodge or block the attack, sent his right hand shooting towards Kirishima's throat.

"TASER" Denki's fingers fastened around Kirishima's hardened neck even as a hardened fist sank into his gut, driving all of his breath out of him along with the remainder of his cry, "FLAAAAASH!"

As he had done once before with Monoma, Denki focused a burst of electricity through his hand, giving Kirishima a large dose of current just below his brain.

"GYARGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGarrrrr…"

* **Thud** *

Kirishima went down…

* **Thud** *

…and Denki followed him shortly afterwards, doubled over as he clenched his now-useless left arm.

 _Oh, sweet merciful god that hurts! Why did I think this was a good idea?!_

"Kirishima is unconscious! The winner by knockout is Denki Kaminari!"

 _Oh…that's why._

" _Holy crap, Listeners! In a move that was either sheer grit or pure desperation, Kaminari sacrificed one of his arms and, unless I am mistaken, a couple of his ribs for the chance to electrocute his opponent!"_

Ribs? Was that why it was hard to breathe? Denki had figured that it had just been a thoroughly-abused diaphragm.

"Do you need a stretcher, Kaminari?" Midnight had knelt down beside him and was fixing him with an appraising stare, probably trying to figure out how messed up he currently was.

"I…I think I can make it to Recovery Girl on my own feet." Denki said through gritted teeth as he forced himself to stand up. The world tilted slightly for a moment but he shook his head and it went back to normal.

"Possibly a mild concussion on top of everything else." Midnight muttered, seemingly to herself, "If you wanna play the tough guy, I won't stop you, but you _will_ be accompanying the medical droids as they transport Kirishima. If you show any signs of fainting, they're transporting you in whatever un-dignified position they see fit, got it?"

"Hehe-ugh! Yes, ma'am." Denki wheezed as his chuckle caused the pain to flare up again.

Just before he stepped off of the stage a few moments later, Denki turned to look at where his classmates were sitting and raised his good arm over his head, flashing them the "V" for victory sign. This prompted the audience to give him another round of cheering and Present Mic to say something about having guts.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

While Kaminari and Kirishima were still in the middle of their match, Izuku Midoriya was dealing with his usual nerves. He had, on occasion, wondered whether it would be worse going into a fight knowing nothing about his opponent, or knowing nearly everything about them. While he would not go so far as to say that he knew nearly everything about Todoroki, he certainly knew enough about him at this point to have an answer to this question.

Knowing was infinitely worse, at least in this situation. Certainly, a part of this was due to the fact that his opponent was powerful and skilled enough that Izuku had no idea whether or not he could win, but another significant part was due to what was at stake.

 _This goes beyond just a match in the Sports Festival at this point. Now that I know what drives him, I can't just let it go. In spite of what I said, I know that it's going to take more than just words to break through the wall that Todoroki-san has built within himself. It came out of nowhere and I know I'm not ready for it, but the result of this fight is going to prove once and for all whether his way of doing things is correct or not._

 _Why do you care? It's not like it's any of your business what he does._

 _He_ made _it my business when he pulled me aside after the second event. Now that I know, I can't just ignore his situation!_

A brief moment of internal silence was followed by the sound of a sigh.

" _Being a Hero is all about butting in to things that don't concern you," huh? Well, whatever. It's not like I can stop you._

Having reached an internal consensus, Izuku decided that it would be a good idea to stretch his legs a bit and exited the waiting room…

"Ah, good. I was looking for you."

…only to find himself face-to-chest with the Number Two Hero.

"Ack! E-excuse me!" Izuku frantically backstepped to avoid running into Endeavor, not sure how to deal with this unexpected development.

"Do not concern yourself; there was no harm done. I doubt that I am mistaken, but you are Izuku Midoriya, yes?"

"Y-yes, sir!" Endeavor's eyes passed over his form for a brief moment before narrowing slightly as he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"I apologize if I have disturbed you during your preparations, but I wanted to speak with you about something. I trust that you can spare a moment?"

Izuku nodded dumbly, not being anywhere near foolish enough to turn down a direct request from the man standing before him.

It was no secret that Izuku Midoriya admired Pro Heroes. In other news, fire was hot and water was wet. While All Might was certainly the greatest object of his admiration, even more so since he had gotten to know the man on a personal level, Endeavor had easily been in his top five. Part of this was due to the man's success and efficiency as a Hero, but another part was simply because he was the most powerful Flame-Quirk user currently living. Somewhere, deep down, Izuku had always held on to the idea that if he trained hard enough, Flame Magnet could begin to approach the level of Hellflame.

However, with the new light that Todoroki had shed on the man, Izuku found his usual star-struck reaction tempered by a layer of caution.

"In order to properly understand why it is that I have sought you out, I must ask if you are aware of the relationship between your next opponent and myself."

"Y-yes. I am aware that T-Todoroki-san is y-your son."

"I see." Endeavor did not seem at all surprised by the fact that Izuku possessed this knowledge. In fact, the boy could see the man relax ever-so-slightly, "I suppose this is because he told you. I could further suppose that he told you a few more things besides."

Izuku nodded again.

"He talks about you, you know? Speaks rather highly of you, in fact."

This caught Izuku off-guard thanks in no small part to the fact that he had a hard time imagining Todoroki speaking highly of _anyone_ , let alone _him_. Endeavor continued uninterrupted.

"You are no doubt aware of the fact that Shoto insists on using only half of his true abilities at any given time, regardless of the situation at hand. He has painted you as a sensible young man, so I must also assume that you realize how asinine this conviction of his is? To willingly shackle oneself, even when lives are on the line?"

"You're talking about USJ."

"I am."

"Your son talked to me about that too."

"Did he? I confess myself surprised. Shoto is rarely one to admit to his own failings. Regardless, time grows short and I have yet to get to the point." Endeavor crossed his arms before continuing, "Midoriya, your exploits have piqued my interest. This includes not only what I have been told but what I have seen with my own eyes. You wield your flames in spite of the threat that they pose to you because you are the type of person who believes in fighting for something greater than themselves. Many of the greatest Heroes have this quality and I have no doubt that it played its part in getting you accepted into U.A. However, while there are many who praise this quality, there are also those who see it as dangerous. Those with the much-vaunted Hero Complex often find their way to early graves, after all."

Izuku was aware of this fact. How could he not be? The stories of Heroes who had sacrificed themselves in order to protect or save someone, while not as widely talked about as those of Heroic victories, were no less numerous. It was a large part of why the process of becoming licensed was such an intensive one; if every fool with aspirations of Heroism took to the streets, the death toll would be astronomical. There were still Vigilantes, of course, but they were often detained or saved before they could cause an inordinate amount of harm to themselves or others.

"I'm sorry, but I'm still not sure what you're getting at, Endeavor."

"Hmm…I see that you lose your stutter when you get serious. Shoto never mentioned that. At any rate, I am here to request that you give your all in your match against my son. He needs a wake-up call that, in spite of my best efforts, I have been unable to provide. Therefore, I am turning to the classmate that he seems to respect the most and whose Quirk mirrors his own in interesting ways."

"If that's all you wanted, then I'm sorry to say that you've wasted your time."

"Oh?" Endeavor raised an eyebrow and with that simple motion and single syllable, Izuku felt a wave of pressure wash over him. He stood his ground.

"It might not be for the same reasons as you, but I had already decided that Todoroki-san needs to come to his senses. I told him as much earlier, but I know that it won't be enough. That's why I've already resolved to go at him with everything I have."

"I see." the corner of Endeavor's mouth quirked up slightly, "I am glad to hear this. However, you are mistaken about this meaning that I have wasted my time. I also wanted to meet you, Izuku Midoriya, for multiple reasons, some of which you might have guessed and still others which you likely have not. In any case, I have taken up enough of your time for now, I think. You should head to the field." he jerked his chin to indicate the hallway that led to the arena.

Izuku did not respond, giving Endeavor one final look before doing as he was bid.

 _Well, that's a guy with layers to him if I've ever met one._

Izuku privately agreed and wondered one final thing before he returned his focus to his imminent match:

Just what was going in inside Endeavor's head?

* * *

 **Well, we're trucking right along. We got through two matches and we even got to see some more of Endeavor! In fact, this is the first time Izuku meets him. Needless to say first impressions were...complicated.**

 **Well, folks, next time is one of the two fights that a lot of you have been looking forward to. Here's hoping that I manage to do it justice! I can almost guarantee that there will be no chapter next week since Kingdom Hearts III comes out on Tuesday and I'm no-lifing that shit until I beat it, so, see you all in two weeks!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	40. Chapter 39: A Mother's Promise

**Hoo, boy. I promised you guys a fight and here we have an entire chapter dedicated to what is easily one of the biggest fights for the MHA fandom. I've spoken before about how there are some parts of the story that I really feel the pressure to do well. Well, this is one of them. Here's hoping that I succeeded!**

 **But first, review time:**

 **uchihaNaruto247, Ooobserver, seanklovett, The 0bservanc3 : As expected, folks are looking forward to the big fight. I did my best to make it different than canon and I hope that it lives up to your expectations!  
**

 **PokeKing Charizard, the_narr_master, BlazerBug, The 0bservanc3 : Here's my spoiler-free review of Kingdom Hearts III: It's good. Great, even. It still doesn't come close to dethroning Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix as my favorite KH game ever, unfortunately. If they remade Kingdom Hearts II with modern-day graphics and didn't change a damned thing otherwise, that'd be absolute perfection.  
**

 **Slayer76 : Denki is a badass for sure, but more than that he really lucked out with his opponents in this tournament. Even more considering that it really _was_ luck, seeing as how I rolled dice for everything!**

 **Steelrain66 : There will be at least a couple students with different Hero Names than in canon, yes. I actually have an ongoing request for ideas that was started a while ago. I'll have to read through my review history when it comes time to choose!**

 **the_narr_master : Happy Birthday! We will definitely see the aftermath of the Denki vs Eijiro fight next chapter, since I wanted this one to just focus on Izuku vs Shoto.**

 **Reverseflash : I'm not totally caught up, but I do know what you're talking about. I can safely say that no, Izuku will NOT be getting a shitload of powers just because he's the chosen one. He's going to find new and creative ways of using the ones he already has. He might get some new gear, but that's it.**

 **61394 : Every single one of Kyoka's puns came directly from the twisted mind of yours truly. As for why, I just really like her this way. Now instead of just being the snarky chick that busts Denki's balls, she's the snarky chick that busts Denki's balls while making music puns. Much better XD**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Bad luck for Mezo indeed. At least he made the best of it, like you say. Denki certainly has some confidence issues, but he doesn't let them get him down _too_ much. He's that character that would say something like "I know you would've preferred if (INSERT BADASS HERE) showed up, but I promise I'll do my best!" I had similar thoughts as you when I rolled up _that_ particular match-up. Well, it raises the stakes a little bit, so it all worked out in the end.**

 **Hardening might jack up Eijiro's strength and give him major physical defense and heat resistance, but it doesn't mean jack against something like electrical damage. Denki lucked out with this particular match-up, no question. The buzzing in his ears was me trying to show that he was starting to feel some of the brain fuzz, yeah. I do seem to be giving Denki his share of badass moments, don't I? I must like the guy or something XD** **There's no question for me that Midnight has a more serious side to her. There's no way she'd have made it so far as a Pro Hero _and_ a teacher at U.A. otherwise.**

 **Corruption of Saints : I definitely plan on doing more with the Antihero program. Might not know exactly _what_ at the moment, but I'll think of something. Spike will certainly have his part(s) to play as well. If you're talking about the sudden discovery of new and exciting Powers as the Plot Demands, then I can assure you that I will NOT be taking this route. Izuku will certainly improve, but he will do so within the confines of the abilities that he already possesses. There's plenty of room for growth just with those, believe me.**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r, Guest, Mrguy22594, ILiekFishes, shanekg, FF-loverHP1, inFamousSlyMonkey, Eramis8, Ezylryb, HyperNinja203, Nemo, ComicJudge, The Keeper of Worlds, IamOminous and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, on to the main event! I actually have a musical recommendation for those who are interested. Search for "Enfin Apparu" on Youtube. It should be the first result that pops up. I'd start playing it when the chapter's title gets dropped, towards the end of the chapter for greatest effect. If you're a super-fast reader who just tears through everything, then start playing it when the audience starts cheering for the combatants.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Nine: A Mother's Promise

Shoto Todoroki stood in the hall that led out onto the field where he would soon be squaring off against Izuku Midoriya. It wasn't an exaggeration in Shoto's eyes to say that this would be the most important match that he would fight that day. Evidently Endeavor thought so too, if his sudden disappearance and subsequent reappearance just before the match was to start was any indication.

Shoto wasn't dumb. He knew that Endeavor had no small amount of interest in Midoriya. He also knew that, while he _had_ served to feed that interest, he had _not_ started it. No, Class 1-A's Vice President had been on the Number Two Hero's radar since before he had even finished middle school.

Initially, Shoto had thought that Endeavor's sudden interest was just another attempt at manipulating him into doing what he wanted.

"Oh, look, a fire Quirk user who faced off against a powerful Villain with no training whatsoever and lived to tell about it. See how powerful such a Quirk can be? Imagine what _you_ could do!"

In short, Shoto had dismissed Midoriya as one of no importance. There was no need for him to be taken seriously if he was just another cog in Endeavor's machine.

Admittedtly, he had been a bit surprised when he had actually _met_ the other boy. A walking contradiction who was shy and withdrawn one moment and firm and unyielding the next. It quickly became clear that Midoriya had a functioning brain underneath all of that hair, but even so, Shoto still had no reason to believe that he would live up to the hype.

But then the Battle Trial had come around and Shoto had been forced to revise his opinion of Izuku Midoriya. What else could he have done in the face of that sort of raw power and sheer grit? In spit of his previous convictions, Shoto admitted that, perhaps, Endeavor had truly seen _something_ in the boy.

If only that had been the end of it, then Shoto's jaw might not be clenched quite so tightly while he listened to Present Mic call his opponent out onto the field.

But it _hadn't_ been the end. Not even close.

Shoto had lost. There was no other way to put it. In a situation where both he and Midoriya could have done something, only Midoriya actually _did_ something and in doing so he had bought them all the time they had needed for All Might to arrive and save everyone.

That was a blow that Shoto found himself unable to ignore.

He needed to redeem himself and there was only one real way to do that: he needed to win against Izuku Midoriya. He needed to prove that he could defeat the one who had defeated him while still upholding his vow. If he was able to do that, then Shoto could rest knowing that his convictions were not meaningless.

 _I'll win. And I'll do it the same way that I always have:_ my _way. Not my father's way._ Mine _. I'll do it right in front of him and then no matter what he says he can go to hell. I'll keep on getting stronger with my ice and then I'll become the Number One Hero, spiting him the whole way there._

 _Yeah. That's what I'll do._ Shoto thought to himself as he stepped out on to the field. _And the first step is right in front of me._

And he was. As Shoto reached the top of the steps and began advancing towards the center of the ring, he made eye-contact with Izuku Midoriya. The shorter boy's green gaze was steady; mouth firm and eyebrows narrowed. His was a visage of pure determination and in spite of being quite sure that he had imagined it, Shoto thought that he saw the large torches in the corners of the ring flare up as their gazes locked.

"Todoroki-san."

Shoto did not respond, but narrowed his eyes at the other boy.

"I just want you to know that I can't think of any way to beat you besides coming at you seriously from the start, so that's what I'm going to do. If you plan on holding anything back, then you're going to get hurt."

Shoto blinked. He was serious. Midoriya had just called him right the fuck out with a completely straight face. He wasn't the type to make threats, which meant that he honestly believed that what he was saying was the truth.

What was he basing that on? True, if Midoriya sent one of his full-power attacks Shoto's way, then he probably wouldn't get away unscathed, but Shoto was confident in his defensive abilities. The odds were favorable that Midoriya would be damaged just as much if not _more_ than Shoto would be without the protection of his Hero Costume.

Surely he knew that Shoto could counter even a full-power attack at least in part with one of his Giant Ice Walls? This was _Midoriya_. Of _course_ he knew that. If anything, he should have known that by revealing his plans, he would effectively guarantee that Shoto would go full-power on his opening move.

So, assuming that he _knew_ that Shoto knew that he knew that, what did he stand to gain by taunting him like this? If Shoto called his bluff and opened with a small attack while attempting to reposition himself, then he could potentially leave himself wide open if Midoriya read his path correctly. However, if there was one thing that the other boy had surely learned about Shoto's attack pattern by that point, it was that Shoto Todoroki did _not_ fuck around when it was time to fight for real.

In other words, a full-power clash really _was_ what Midoriya was after and the taunt was an attempt to minimize the possibility of Shoto doing something unexpected since Midoriya of _all_ people could appreciate the power of the unexpected.

 _Alright, Midoriya. I'll play your game, but it won't be the way you_ want _me to!_

Confident that he had seen through Midoriya's opening gambit, Shoto shifted his stance so that his right foot was forward. The movement was purposeful and obvious; there was no way that Midoriya had missed it. Shoto may as well have held up a sign saying "big ice attack incoming."

"You want my best, Midoriya? Fine. I hope Recovery Girl's on standby with a cure for frostbite."

" _Whoa-ho! Those were fighting words if I ever heard them, Listeners! It looks like there's something_ personal _going on between these two, which means just one thing for the rest of us: a whole other level of fight! Hopefully!"_

Midnight's eyes moved back and forth between the pair before she stepped forward.

"Midoriya, are you ready?"

"Yes, Sensei." if sparks really could fly from the force of one's gaze alone, Shoto's uniform would be singed.

"Todoroki, are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Very well. Take your stances…and begin!"

Midnight leapt away with not a moment to spare as Shoto unleashed a rapidly expanding wall of jagged ice that swallowed nearly half of the ring and towered over twenty feet high at its zenith. At the same time, he had dropped into a crouch and locked his right foot to the arena with ice produced from his right hand while also erecting a semicircle of ice in front of him to serve as a sort of blast shield from the massive counterattack that he _knew_ was on its way. He braced himself for the impact, ready to throw up a wall behind him as well if it became necessary…

…But the impact never came. Even though it couldn't have been more than a couple of seconds since Shoto had braced himself, the impact should have come by then. If Midoriya had hesitated in the slightest, then he would have been engulfed by Shoto's ice and the match would have ended.

A gasp. An exclamation of surprise from somewhere in the crowd. That was all of the warning that Shoto received, but when his keen mind and honed battle senses were sharpened to their absolute limit, that was all he needed.

In that instant, Shoto glanced skyward and, on nothing more than an inclination so slight that it could barely even have been called a whim, began to focus his ice in his right arm as he lifted it skyward to shield his eyes from the sun.

This course of action was all that saved him from being rendered unconscious in brutal fashion by an attack that he never should have seen coming. In short, instinct and pure, unfiltered luck were what caused the thin armor on Shoto's right arm to be shattered as said arm was blown to the side, having intercepted a blazing fist that was on a gravity-assisted collision course directly for his face.

Midoriya, moving with a level of speed and fluidity that Shoto would have never expected from him, used the sudden change in momentum from Shoto's block to spin around and send a left hook flying towards his temple that he avoided by swaying back, keeping himself upright with his frozen foot. Before Shoto could regain his composure enough to muster a counterattack, Midoriya continued his rotation and slammed his right leg into Shoto's side.

Shoto felt the impact reverberate throughout his body and felt the searing sensation of a burn forming on his skin from the flames that surrounded Midoriya's limb. By rights, it was an attack that should have sent Shoto skidding away from his opponent, but he was held in place once again by his right foot. Consequently, Midoriya found himself with his momentum abruptly shut down.

 _You're not going anywhere!_

Shoto immediately seized Midoriya's leg and attempted to sent his ice coursing through it, aiming to immobilize his opponent long enough to deliver a decisive blow.

But the ice didn't take. Midoriya's leg was still burning. In fact, both of his arms were still burning as well. Actually, upon closer inspection…

… _What?!_

Midoriya's entire body was wreathed in flames. They were flickering wildly and unevenly, seemingly uncontrolled and undirected, but they were _there_ and their very presence prevented Shoto's ice from gaining purchase. To make things worse, the brief period that it took him to realize this was all that Midoriya required to lift his free leg and deliver a thrust kick to Shoto's chest.

"GAH!"

The wind left Shoto's lungs as the third time proved to be the charm when it came to shattering the ice that held his right foot fixed to the ground. He slid back a few feet as he regained his breath and processed this new technique of Midoriya's.

 _Okay. So he doesn't have a cool-down period between his stronger attacks anymore. Fine. He has to be consuming fuel to keep that up, right? Combine that with the fact that he's probably hurting himself without his Hero Costume and all I have to do is wait for him to drop it and counterattack!_

Shoto sent another wave of ice at his opponent, who hopped on top of his makeshift shield and used it as a foothold to leap high enough to clear the ice. There, while in midair, he deactivated his flames and began to inhale, drawing fire from the four pillars surrounding the ring into himself.

 _Son of a bitch! He can use those to refuel!_

Suddenly, Shoto's plan of waiting for Midoriya to exhaust his reserves was no longer feasible. What was more, Midoriya had managed to get enough hang-time that he was able to reactivate his full-body flame technique and resume his offensive almost immediately after landing.

Shoto growled and ran forward to meet his opponent.

 _With mobility like that, he's going to force things into a close-range fight one way or another. Fine. I'll show him that preferring to fight at a distance is way different than_ needing _to!_

Shoto sent his left palm shooting forwards, intercepting a punch from the startled Midoriya and smoothly redirecting it to the side as he stepped forwards with his right leg and struck his opponent across the face with a fist that had been encased in ice. It was a clean hit with his full strength behind it and Midoriya's face was on a collision course with the ground-

* **BAM** *

Shoto's head was blown to the side by a wild kick that his opponent had lashed out with while breaking his fall.

The moves were clearly improvised. The form was clearly sloppy. There were openings and wasted energy galore, but Midoriya's Quirk made him _just_ fast enough and _just_ strong enough that it didn't matter. He had Shoto outclassed in terms of speed, agility and strength, even if he lagged behind in pure technique.

Had that been all, then Shoto could simply have fought defensively in order to wear his opponent down, but Midoriya had shown everyone time and again that it would take one hell of an ass-kicking to keep him down. Time might have been on Shoto's side, but he couldn't count on it to see him through this alone.

"You seem frustrated, Todoroki-san. It doesn't seem like any of your plans are working the way you want them to, does it?"

He had refueled again while Shoto was still reeling from being kicked in the head and was steadily approaching him. With his flames doused once again, Shoto could clearly see that bits of his uniform had started to burn away, particularly around his shins and forearms. His exposed skin had turned red. Only his hair, eyes, mouth and shoes seemed to be unharmed.

"Yeah, I guess ice doesn't work that well on me when I can just flare up whenever I want, huh?" Midoriya lifted an arm, presenting it to Shoto, "Seems like fire does the job just fine though, doesn't it? Too bad you don't have any of that, huh?"

"Shut up!" Shoto snapped at the other boy and sent a line of ice spikes at him, which he predictably leapt over after re-activating his flames. Shoto had seen this coming and slammed his hand into the ground, sending a pillar of ice to intercept him. Midoriya vaulted over the pillar with a nigh-inhuman display of agility and dove towards Shoto, spitting a fireball as he did so.

Instead of defending against the attack with more ice, Shoto dove to the side and slapped his hand onto the ground, blindsiding Midoriya with a chunk of ice before he could hit the ground.

With his opponent temporarily dazed, Shoto seized the offensive, generating a bar of ice from his foot that sent him shooting across the ground at the downed Midoriya. He seized the still-burning boy by his uniform with his left hand and kicked him in the stomach with both legs, causing a tearing sound as Midoriya rolled across the ground with a chunk of his top missing.

As they both stood back up, Midoriya's flames extinguished themselves, seemingly to his surprise.

 _I was right: that technique of his eats up fuel pretty quickly. He's already had to refuel multiple times and he's careful to only use it when he's on the offensive. Twenty seconds? More than that? I can't guarantee that he's been at full capacity though. It's possible he could maintain it for longer. I need to keep up the pressure._

He sent another wave of ice at Midoriya and was rewarded as the other boy was forced to cancel his latest attempt to refuel in favor of dodging.

This was it! He just needed to keep him on the ropes so he wouldn't be able to recover.

Shoto sent more ice at Midoriya, but for some reason he wasn't able to hit him. It seemed like the tactician had somehow managed to retain his speed boost even without his new technique.

Shoto was abruptly jolted out of his reverie when Midoriya dashed around one of the many chunks of ice he had previously created, a wall of fire at his back, pursuing him as if he was an escapee from hell itself.

"What the fu-AGH!" Shoto was prevented from thinking too hard about what was happening when a wave of heat washed over him from behind, causing him to reflexively throw up a barrier of ice as the flames from the torches located behind him shot towards Midoriya.

 _Flame Magnet! Its range is limited, so he used the other torches as a distraction while he got close enough to pull on the ones closest to me!_

What was more, while Shoto was focused on keeping his defenses up, he wouldn't be able to act in time to prevent Midoriya from refueling again, which he was quickly proceeding to do.

"You know, I think I have to agree with what you said earlier, Todoroki-san." Midoriya had stopped several feet away, leaving about as much distance as there had been between them at the start of the match, "About your flames being Endeavor's power, I mean. It really bugged me at first, how you sealed away half of your Quirk because it was "his," as if this somehow meant that you could refuse to accept it as "yours" in spite of the fact that it is, in the most objective way possible, _your_ Quirk since, you know, it's literally _your Quirk_."

Shoto stood from his defensive crouch and glared with his mis-matched eyes at Midoriya's green ones.

"But I get it now, really." Midoriya spread his arms and gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Don't get me wrong: I know that the situation as a whole is a lot more complicated than just what you told me before, but in terms of your Quirk it really all boils down to a single point." his forced grin left his face, leaving him glaring at Shoto with an expression of…jealousy?

"As much as I believe that things such as the circumstances of our birth and the actions of others shouldn't define us, going to the other end of the spectrum is just as stupid. Not to belittle everything that you've been through, Todoroki-san, but do you realize what the majority of U.A. students, not to mention _applicants_ , have to go through? Do you understand the amount blood, sweat and tears that goes into getting accepted into a place like this? Not just a place _like_ this, but _this exact_ place? For some, it's just as big of a goal as becoming a Hero one day. For others, the two goals are actually viewed as one and the same because of the sheer amount of prestige that U.A. has."

"Is that what this is about?" Shoto retorted, "You're trying to suggest that my getting in to U.A. as a recommended student has anything, even in the _slightest_ , to do with me using my fire?!"

"What I'm saying is that most people don't have the _luxury_ of giving anything less than their all if they're serious about becoming Heroes and even then, there's no guarantee that they'll make it. They sweat, they bleed, they cry and they take every single advantage that they can get, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem. One more lap. One more set. One final review before the big exam that could make or break their dreams in the most horrifyingly real way possible _before they even have the chance to start._ "

Midoriya's gaze had turned into an orange reminiscent of glowing coals. Set within his burnt visage, it seemed as though his inner fire was trying to consume his very body.

"Todoroki-san, when you have a group of people like that, doing everything in their power to make their dreams a reality, do you realize what a slap in the face it is when someone like you says that not only is he going to be the best, but he's going to do it _half-assed_?! Do you seriously think that any self-respecting aspiring Hero would just stand aside and _give_ you that?!"

"Are you _done_?" Shoto heard his voice getting louder in spite of himself, "You've heard my reasons for the way I do things, Midoriya! You said this all boiled down to a single point, but so far all I've heard is you trying to guilt-trip me for being born under favorable circumstances when you just finished saying that we shouldn't let those types of things define us. So, if you have a point, I suggest that you _make_ it!"

"Oh, that?" suddenly, the anger in Midoriya's eyes was replaced with something else. Something that made Shoto's blood boil even hotter:

Pity.

"I just realized that if you allow someone else to have so much power over you, to the point where you let their actions decide how you use your own power, then you'd be right if you said it didn't belong to you anymore. Congratulations, Shoto Todoroki: In your efforts to spite your father and prove your own convictions, you willingly gave him more power over you than he could ever have gotten on his own. At some point, you made the decision to change, but instead of moving forward all you did was throw away your own Quirk because you decided that you didn't want it anymore."

" _If you want to apologize to me for what happened back then, even though I still don't blame you, then you need to take whatever mental block you have on your left side and throw it away. Otherwise, all you'll prove to me is that you haven't changed."_

" _I want you to remember this the next time you find yourself in such a situation, Shoto, because believe me when I say that it_ will _happen again."_

" _In spite of knowing that you had the ability to combat this threat when no one else was in a position to do so, why did you refuse to use your flames? You may as well have condemned your classmate right then and there."_

" _You…this is your fault! It's_ your _fault that Mom did this to me!"_

"Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!"

Shoto had heard enough. Digging deep, past the point of what would ordinarily be considered safe for his body, he unleashed a tidal wave of ice at the boy whose words had cut deeper than should have been possible.

Unseen by Shoto, Izuku Midoriya raised his arms to his sides, allowing them each to ignite with precisely half of his power. He reeled back…

"ARIZONA SMASH!"

…and cut loose, expelling a massive amount of flames as he clapped his hands together with enough force that it seemed as though he had detonated some sort of bomb directed at everything in front of him. A shockwave of superheated air emanated from his position and tore through the wave of ice, vaporizing the outer layer and converting what remained into a semi-liquid mush that sprayed Shoto even as he was sent flying backwards by the sheer power that Midoriya had generated.

Shoto crashed through one of his earlier barriers and just barely managed to create a curved wall of ice in time to redirect himself back onto the stage.

Again. And again. And again and again and AGAIN! How many times would he launch what by all rights _should_ be a finishing blow only for Midoriya to plow right through and launch a counterattack?! Shoto stood up and staggered as he felt how leaden his right leg had become. It was harder than it should have been to form the fingers of his right hand into a fist. There was a deep hurt that seemed to sink all the way to his bones. A quick glance at the exposed skin of his forearm told him all he needed to know.

Frost. Little, silvery patches of frost had begun to form on his right side.

Contrary to what some may have believed, Endeavor was not entirely immune to heat. Oh, he was practically immune to _damage_ caused by heat, but his body could only take so much. When he burned too hot for too long, his ability to use his Quirk would begin to decline. It was entirely possible for Endeavor to overheat to the point where he was unable to produce flames until he had managed to cool himself.

Shoto's Quirk functioned in a similar way. His left half was like his father's: immune to damage from heat. His right was, as one might imagine, immune to damage from cold. This also meant, however, that whenever Shoto used his ice, his overall body temperature would decrease, particularly on his right side. Eventually, he would get cold enough that his breath would mist in the air, which had been happening for some time now. Beyond that, he would begin to accumulate frost on his right side. If he went too far beyond even _that_ , then he would not only be able to generate any more ice, but his limbs would refuse to move properly.

Needless to say, things weren't looking good.

"Look at you." Shoto glared at Midoriya as he approached yet again, "Your ice is doing more damage to _you_ than it is to me."

Shoto was about to say something along the lines of "Says _you_!" but he bit his tongue. If Midoriya wanted to give him more time to figure something out, then so be it.

Seriously, if he looked like crap then his opponent looked like death warmed over. The top to his tracksuit was in tatters and his pants had been reduced to shorts. His skin was raw and blistered, having been burned a deep red. Worst of all, however, was from the elbows down.

Deep burns combined with a deep purple that was doubtlessly a sign of severe physical trauma. His hands and fingers were already beginning to swell and the tightness of his facial expression betrayed the amount of pain that he must have been in.

"Even if I _were_ to accept that you didn't want to use your fire to attack, what sort of logic is there in refusing to use it to help yourself? If I'm right about the way your Quirk works, then you could effectively _negate_ its biggest limitation! Forget whatever I was feeling before, now you're just pissing me off!"

"That's rich! Are _you_ seriously lecturing _me_ about looking out for my own well-being?!" Shoto trudged towards his opponent, determined to shut him up one way or the other.

"I don't have a CHOICE!" Midoriya shouted at him, "Without my costume, this is the only way for me to fight at a high enough level to beat you! Don't you think that if I had a way that I could fight you without having to bear this pain, that I WOULD?! What kind of idiot would _willingly_ damage his own body if he had a simple way to prevent that?! Oh, _sorry,_ I forgot who I was talking to."

Shoto punched him in the solar plexus with his left fist, causing the other boy to double over as the wind was knocked out of him. As he bent, Midoriya used his movement to headbutt Shoto in the chest harder than he should have been able to. He must have used his Quirk.

 _Right; he can still bolster his strength even when he's low on fuel._

In short, Midoriya would continue to be a threat until Shoto either put him down or got him out of the ring.

At the moment, it was a toss-up as to which one would prove more difficult.

"Just stay down already!" Shoto half-pleaded.

"You could end this." Midoriya replied as he swayed on his feet, "You could win the whole thing right now if you actually took this seriously."

"Why don't you get it? Why won't you understand?! I can't!"

"Yes, you _can_!"

"NO, I CAN'T!"

"YOU CAN!" a voice that wasn't Midoriya's rang out from the stands, "YOU CAN DO IT, TODO!"

The unseen audience member's cry created a ripple effect that began to take over the stands.

"Come on, flame kid! You've got this in the bag!"

"Get him, ice kid! Show some grit!"

"Just a little more!"

"Come on!"

"I'm requesting both of you, just so you know!"

"Don't stop now! You've almost got him!"

"I've got five-thousand yen riding on this!"

The audience was on fire. A wall of sound pressed in on the pair from all sides, shouting encouragements to one or sometimes both of them.

"Both of you! Give it all you've got! Each of you can be great Heroes!"

Those words caused Shoto's mind to flash to a half-remembered scene from his childhood. He was young then, couldn't have been much older than five. He remembered his mother running her fingers through his hair as he sat on her lap, watching an All Might interview.

" _You want to be like that one day, don't you, Shoto?"_

" _I do, but…"_

" _Are you worried that you won't be able to do it?"_

" _I…no. I'm worried that I won't be a good one."_

It was a concern that he had voiced before. He worried that if he became a Hero that he would become like his father and even at that age, that was something that Shoto didn't want.

" _Always remember that nobody controls you but you. If you do your best to be a Hero, then you can become a Hero. If you do your best to be a good person, then you can become a good person."_

He had looked up at his mother's smiling face then, her snow-white hair framing her grey eyes.

" _You can do it, Shoto. You can become not only a great Hero, but a great man too. That's a mother's promise!"_

 _If that's true…_

The world had stilled around him.

 _If that's really true, then…_

An itch. A spark. The feeling of heat flowing through his body.

… _then what have I been doing this whole time?!_

Shoto's left side exploded into flames. The dam that he had held in place for the past decade had burst and the suddenly-unrestrained fire erupted with such force that the fragments of ice in Shoto's immediate vicinity shattered with a sound like breaking glass. To his right side, it felt as though life had been returned to his frozen flesh. Hot blood surged through his veins and made him gasp for air, wide-eyed at how _different_ he suddenly felt.

He was _free_. As his flames scorched the air and his ice covered the ground, Shoto felt as though he had been relieved of iron weights that he had never realized had been chained to his limbs. He felt his lips spread unbidden into an exhilarated grin.

"Midoriya…whatever happens, just remember that you _asked_ for this!"

"You're right." Midoriya was wearing a determined grimace of his own, "Makes you wonder what I have planned for this stage of the fight, doesn't it?"

Shoto raised his left hand in an almost lazy gesture and pointed it, palm-out, at the man in front of him.

"Only one way to find out."

Shoto Todoroki unleashed hell.

The wave of fire that he sent towards Midoriya was raw, unfocused and undisciplined. All Shoto had done was line up the proverbial car and floor it, but the sheer destructive potential that such a simple move had produced spoke for itself.

Midoriya wasn't in any mortal danger, of that Shoto was certain. He had the ability to devour fire, execute a powerful backwards leap to allow the flames time to dissipate, dash behind an existing ice structure, of which there were still many, or any combination thereof. Even if he took the attack head-on, which Shoto knew that he would not do, he would still survive, albeit with severe burns and minimal clothing, if any.

What Shoto had _not_ expected was for Midoriya to shoot skyward, trailing flames from his feet as Shoto's flames curved to follow him, gathering by his outstretched palm. As he arced through the air, falling towards Shoto, the liberated elementalist cut off his initial stream and directed his hand upwards, aiming at his opponent who no longer had any way to evade him, sending a pillar of fire directly towards his target.

"Eat this!"

Shoto immediately regretted his choice of words as Midoriya proceeded to do exactly that, reigniting his entire body in the process.

Midoriya descended from on high, bringing with him a sphere of concentrated fire. The sphere described an arc in the air as the burning fighter brought it to bear directly in front of Shoto's torso.

"REFLECT FIRE!"

A flash of light, a wave of heat and sound, Present Mic screaming his head off…

…and Shoto knew no more.

* * *

 **K.O! YOU LOSE! EXCEPT YOU ALSO WIN IN AN ARGUABLY MORE IMPORTANT ASPECT! GOOD JOB!**

 **I originally intended to switch to Izuku's POV at some point, but I'm glad that I stuck with Shoto throughout. After all, this is really more _his_ fight than Izuku's. I also realized that Izuku is absolutely _terrifying_ when you're on the receiving end of one of his beat-downs. Crazy bastard just doesn't quit!**

 **I really, really hope that you all enjoyed this one. I tried to put all the cards on the table and make it more than just an exchange of fists. Not to say I don't do that in other fights, but I really wanted to give this one some weight. Let me know what you all think!**

 **Might be another chapter next week, might not. I don't hate having more time to plan stuff out, especially since I'm getting more involved with D &D again.**

 **Either way, next time we'll get to see the aftermath of the Denki vs Eijiro fight as well as the aftermath of the Izuku vs Shoto fight! Katsuki vs Tenya will probably also make its way in there!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	41. Chapter 40: The Infirmary

**Here we are once more with the 1,000 review and 2,000 follow marks growing ever closer and the fortieth chapter to boot! It never fails to amaze me just how far this story has come in less than a year. And there's much more to go!**

 **Also, since 39 was a rather important chapter, there's a bit more in the review section than usual. I know that not all of you are fans of this, so I'll have to ask you to take the extra half-second to scroll past things this week. I appreciate your continued support.  
**

 **Review time:**

 **FleeingReality, Slayer76, Corruption of Saints, HyperNinja203, HankFlamion18, Renlu, Death of Snipers, the_narr_master, seanklovett, Yung Warrior, PokeKing Charizard, 61394, IWriteWhenTheHiatusStrikes, uchihaNaruto247, D3lph0xL0v3r, TheStoryWever, The Keeper of Worlds, Mrguy22594, Reverseflash, inFamousSlyMonkey, Ooobserver, The 0bservanc3, Eramis8 : Apparently I did something right because a TON of you loved the Izuku vs Shoto fight! Needless to say I'm very, VERY happy about this because, as I've said before, it's a truly series-defining fight (for some, their favorite canon fight to-date) and I really wanted to do it justice.  
**

 **QuestingforBitches, Deadpan, The 0bservanc3 : Some of you have pointed out, quite rightly, that Shoto made some tactical errors in his fight with Izuku. This was intentional. I tried to emphasize that Shoto was not in a good place mentally during most of this fight and that his focus was decidedly _not_ where it should have been. As for the final moment, he was experiencing a rather intense high, similarly to canon, which is why he went ahead and shot fire at the fire-eater. It's certainly not the type of move he would normally make, but this situation was anything but normal. Hopefully this addresses your concerns.  
**

 **Corruption of Saints : I haven't really nailed down an exact temperature, other than it gets hotter as he raises his output. Obviously his 5% cloak isn't up to the level of a blowtorch or other such level where it would do immediately catastrophic damage or anything like that, but I couldn't really say much other than it's relatively cool as far as fire goes while still being, you know, fire. As for the final attack at the end, I pictured it as him condensing the fire down into a sort of explosive Rasengan or something as opposed to a spirit bomb. He's not at that level quite yet XD I do enjoy the name suggestions as well. Feel free to continue with them!**

 **E and Y : Welcome aboard! I will admit that keeping track of everyone's specific use of honorifics is somewhat challenging, so I've just boiled it down to a simple formula using their personalities and relationships with each other as a base. It's not 100% canon-compliant, but it was never going to be anyway. Glad you're enjoying things otherwise!**

 **Renlu : The sheer emotion that I can feel in your reviews always makes me smile. Anyway, yes, Izuku has broken his bones before. In fact, he did so as early as the entrance exams when he went full-power against the Zero. You are correct that these questions will all be answered! You are also correct about the chapter name relationship. I wanted to do a reference to the Start Line callback from canon.**

 **the_narr_master : I'm glad you enjoyed the fight music! No need to worry about me nerfing Todoroki. He is and will always be a force to be reckoned with and any instances where he has to hold back will be justified to the best of my ability. As for the qualitative Quirk thing, well...there's a hint to that in this chapter if you squint.**

 **IWriteWhenTheHiatusStrikes : You are correct that the throat electrification move could be potentially dangerous. I'll chalk it up to Eijiro being a badass and Denki dialing back his power somewhat. Shit, I'm not necessarily opposed to killing someone out of the blue, but to have it happen in a situation like that...talk about a story-derailer!**

 **Swords and Bandages : I am simultaneously flattered that my story stole your sleep and apologetic that my story deprived you of sleep. I'm glad that you are enjoying things and am grateful for your kind words. You are correct that this isn't my first time writing something, but it _is_ the first time that I've come so far with a piece of writing. Thank you as well for updating the TvTropes page! I'm always appreciative when people take the time to do this and it's looking better than ever!**

 **The 0bservanc3 : You are 100% correct that Shoto isn't in the best place headspace-wise. This is a big reason of why I chose to have the chapter entirely from his perspective. Izuku does have a history of fighting with Katsuki and has a fairly-good idea of what he's doing, but he's never had any formal training and is also not entirely used to fighting with his imperfect flame cowl yet, so his technique is a bit off. Plus, his technique on a good day is still nothing compared to Shoto's, so there's a good chance it would appear sloppy to him anyway. I had a good time writing Unshackled! Shoto, even if his screentime was short-lived.**

 **Tsukaima : Welcome aboard! It pleases me greatly to know that you're enjoying things so much. I have a lot of fun writing One For All and Dark Shadow in particular. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Dark Birb doesn't get enough love in canon! He's a Sentient Quirk for crying out loud!**

 **DarkxKitsune, Shipper On Deck, DragonBall Shin, Guest, JustThatAverageGuy, Moikan Yoloko, IchiFell, UnholyTomahawk, Sentinel07, Anime Redneck, Mangahero18, Zukafew119, Duxbeli , and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's rewind the clock a bit and see what's been going on in the temporary infirmary!**

* * *

Chapter Forty: The Infirmary

Mina Ashido was experiencing a bit of emotional drain. To say that it had been an eventful day so far was putting it lightly. Nervousness, adrenaline, laughter, regret, worry, gratitude and now guilt with the latter two being almost entirely due to the unconscious redhead whose bedside she was currently seated at.

Honestly, the gratitude part was nothing new when it came to Eijiro Kirishima, especially recently. There was a sort of purity to him that set him apart from the crowd even where the other Hero-hopefuls were concerned. He was just…a really, really _good_ guy.

It sounded overly-simplified, even in Mina's head, but there was no other single descriptor that seemed to fit him as completely as that one. He was warm, earnest and strong, for sure, but those things alone didn't differentiate him much from people like, say, Midori, Iida or hell, Mina herself.

Ei was…a rock. Yes, that was appropriate, especially given his Quirk. No matter what happened to him, he wouldn't bend. He wouldn't break. He would take his failures in stride and use them to make himself better. No matter what regrets he had and no matter what sort of hurt he felt, Eijiro Kirishima would grit his teeth, straighten his spine and keep looking forward.

Even that wasn't enough to truly set him apart though. It elevated him to a higher stage, no doubt about that, but there were still plenty of others in the realm of Heroics that could be said to be like that.

No, the one piece, if it could truly be narrowed down that much, that made Ei who he was would have to be his heart. He was one of those people who cared, _truly_ cared, about those around him. It went beyond something like common decency or even the sort of nobility that made a Hero say something like "It's only natural to help those who are in trouble." This was the kind of man who would beat himself up for not being able to act. Who would look you in the eye and say, without any hesitation or reservation, that everything would be alright. Who had the ability to not only believe in others, but to make them believe in _themselves_.

The kind of man who would bare his soul to a young man who had lost his way in the middle of a warzone because he saw the pain in his eyes and believed that he was still capable of redemption.

Mina remembered, back on the Saturday when they had hung out as a group for Bakugo's birthday, after the day's plans had come to an end, Ei had taken her up on her offer to go see another movie with him. Afterwards, when they had been taking their time walking around and enjoying the night life, he had told her about what he had done during the USJ Incident and how he had lost sleep over it not because he wondered whether he had done the right thing, but whether the young man would be alright. He was, after all, still technically a Villain and would have to answer for his part in the attack.

Even after having gone above and beyond for someone he didn't even know, Ei was worried that it _hadn't been enough_.

This could be considered closely-related to the root of Mina's current feeling of guilt. After all, if Ei got so worked up over a spur-of-the-moment action for someone who had previously been _attacking_ him, then how would he feel when he woke up and realized that he had failed to keep a promise that he had explicitly made to someone that he was considerably closer to than that?

To be clear, Mina didn't see it that way. In her eyes, he had given everything he had fought two matches and had given it his all in the first one, let alone the second. There had been so many times when it had looked like he was about to be defeated, but each time he dug a bit deeper into a reserve of strength that even he probably didn't know he possessed.

Towards the end of his fight with Tetsutetsu, _something_ had happened. It had been quick and had vanished almost as soon as it appeared, but for just that final moment something about him had changed. Mina hadn't brought it up partly because she had doubted her own eyes at the time and partly because she didn't want to distract Ei, but now that she had the chance to mull it over, she was absolutely positive that _something_ had happened.

It had been a testament to Ei's strength that he was even able to _show up_ to his second match, let alone nearly _win_ it. Mina may have been disappointed that Ei had lost, but she wasn't disappointed _in_ him! If anything, it was completely the opposite! In spite of this fact, however, she knew that if/when she told him that, it would only make him feel like she was trying to make him feel better, which would in turn only make him feel _worse_.

So, in a nutshell, Mina Ashido felt guilty because of a promise that Ei had made of his own volition in order to make _her_ feel better and the following series of events that she had no control over ended up causing him to break that promise even though he had done _more_ than his best to see it through and nobody in their right mind would ever blame him for it but that wouldn't stop him from blaming himself for it anyway which would lead her to try and make _him_ feel better by telling him the _truth_ which would, paradoxically, only make him feel worse.

Honestly, if anyone was to blame for him not being able to keep his promise it would be Kaminari, who was the one to actually _beat_ him, but Mina wasn't so petty that she would be upset with a guy who had only done what he was _supposed_ to be doing and, in all fairness, had taken his share of lumps in the process.

"Agh…"

She would know, since he was currently in the next bed over from Ei and had just finished receiving his round of healing from Recovery Girl, complete with a customary recitation of the list of injuries that he had managed to accrue during his match. Kyoka was there too, leaning against the wall next to his bed with her arms crossed and a sour expression on her face that Mina had a strong suspicion was just her way of pretending not to look concerned. Or maybe she was frustrated about not being able to hear anything?

Both. Mina decided that it was probably both.

Once Recovery Girl had left them be with instructions that Kaminari was to get as much rest as possible before his next match and a strong recommendation that he surrender if it looked like he was about to keel over from exhaustion, Kyoka had started on him.

"Seriously! What the hell were you thinking with that stunt?! Did your mom headbang too much when she was pregnant with your or something?!"

The source of her ire was Kaminari's left arm, which was currently contained within a sling. He had specifically requested that Recovery Girl only heal him to the point where he could still remain conscious and in the game, so she had settled for setting his arm and only applying minimal healing to it so that he wouldn't make things any worse. For all intents and purposes though, he was down an arm for the remainder of the Sports Festival.

"Yeah…yeah I know. I'm an idiot." He was clearly still out of it from both his usage of his Quirk and the healing that he had received on top of that. His words were slightly slurred and his eyes were slightly unfocused. Though she couldn't hear what he said, Kyoka's expression softened.

"You know…I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised, though. I know you're not just some lip-syncher that talks a big game then fails to deliver on-stage, but even with that you've put on a better show than I expected. I…I almost find myself thinking that you might actually have a chance of winning! How crazy is that, huh?"

Mina internally agreed with her. She didn't think of anyone in their class as weak, but she also hadn't expected Kaminari to turn out to be such a strong contender. Still, the day had taken it's toll on him. Considering that his next opponents were Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, who were comparatively fresh, he would be going in with a stamina disadvantage.

Mina blinked as she suddenly remembered the contingency plan she had in place for just such a thing. Sure, it had originally been intended for _her_ , but if Kaminari went on to be a finalist or, god forbid, win the whole thing…

Knowing that she didn't exactly have a lot of time to think this over, Mina made a snap-decision and shot out of the infirmary with Kyoka making a startled noise behind her.

"Sorry, I'll explain when I get back!" she called before remembering that Kyoka couldn't hear her.

 _Crap, that's going to make this a bit more difficult to explain. Hopefully Kaminari's coherent enough to understand!_

Mina dashed to the waiting room where she and most of the other participants had stashed whatever belongings they had brought with them. Since the number of participants had decreased so much, there weren't that many bags. She found hers easily and ran back to the temporary infirmary, not bothering to waste time fishing out what she was looking for.

"Okay, what?" was Kyoka's reaction when Mina barged back in to the room, tossed her back onto a chair and began rifling through it.

"Well, I didn't originally plan on losing in the first round of the third event, you know?" Mina explained for Kaminari's benefit, since he was looking at her with a puzzled expression as well, "I thought that I'd end up a bit fatigued, so I brought a pick-me-up." she fished a chocolate bar and a bottle of cloudy liquid from her bag, giving the bottle a shake as she did so, "These babies!"

"Wuzzat?" Kaminari asked.

"Well, the chocolate bar is a chocolate bar. Sugar, a bit of caffeine, all that jazz. _This_ , however," here she shook the bottle for emphasis, "is water mixed with maca powder! This stuff can help you power though a lot of things and it doesn't make you all jittery either! I don't have time to explain it to you, so just drink it! I'd recommend taking bites of the chocolate while you do though because it honestly tastes kinda gross. Usually you should mix it with food or something more flavorful but, well…" she trailed off, not actually having a good reason why she didn't mix it with a sports drink or something else. In hindsight, that would have probably been a bit better than plain water.

"I don't really get it but…okay?" he took the chocolate and the bottle. He took a sip, shook his head involuntarily and took a bit of the chocolate as Mina had advised.

"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but why are you doing this?" Kyoka asked with genuine curiosity.

"Well, first off, I really don't have much of a use for it anymore, you know?" Mina responded, "Second though, if the Prez here actually manages to make it to the finals or even win the whole thing, then I can use that to help Kiri not feel so bummed out about losing. There's no shame in losing to someone who made it all the way to the end, right?"

"Heh." Kaminari chuckled between sips, "Guess that's one more reason, huh?" he finished the bottle and bar within a couple of minutes and disposed of the wrapper in the nearby trash can, "How long for this stuff to kick in?"

"Well, that's partly what the chocolate was for. You'll feel the sugar and caffeine from that first, probably. The maca should start to kick in pretty soon, but it might take a bit for you to really feel it. It's not some energy drug or anything, just a natural supplement." Mina explained.

Kaminari stood up and rolled his neck with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Well, I'm gonna get out of here, I think."

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Kyoka barked.

"I gotta take a leak and then I'm gonna go watch the match before mine. I'll be sitting down still so it's no problem, right?" he left without waiting for a response.

"Let him go." Mina caught Kyoka by the shoulder to stop her from stomping off after Kaminari, turning her so she could see her face and hopefully get the message, "He needs to get his energy back and a bit of walking should help get his blood flowing."

As she mentioned getting his blood flowing, Mina then remembered a potential side-effect of maca that she maybe probably should have thought to mention before he left.

"Ah, right. I should probably mention that maca is also thought to increase libido."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Right. You can't hear. Well, I still told you!"

"If you're trying to tell me to get back to the stands, I think I'll hang out here a bit longer. If I went back now, I'd just bite bolt brain's head off for ignoring what I assume Recovery Girl's instructions were."

At that moment, a muted wave of sound echoed through the hallways outside.

"Huh. Match must be over." Mina offhandedly observed as she resumed her seat next to Ei. Kyoka didn't sit, but leaned against the wall she had previously occupied. About a minute passed before Recovery Girl banged through the doors, full of the sort of righteous fury that one can only obtain after spending years upon years fixing up reckless teenagers with superpowers and made a beeline for her temporary office.

"Wonder what's got her all thrashy?" Kyoka muttered before poking her head out the door, "Holy shit!" she immediately threw the doors open and moved to hold one, gesturing for Mina to do the same. The reason for this became readily apparent as a quartet of medical droids rolled in with each pair carrying an unconscious boy on a stretcher. One was immediately recognizable as Todoroki, albeit a Todoroki who was more beat-up than Mina had ever seen him and who also happened to be missing his shirt. As for the other one…

"Oh my god is that Midori?!"

The other one was in bad shape. His clothing was basically destroyed except for his usual red shoes and the charred remains of his pants that now resembled tattered shorts more than anything. The reason for this was immediately apparent: he was absolutely _covered_ in nasty-looking burns and his arms were wrecked beneath the elbows. Were it not for his poofy hair which was apparently fireproof and the aforementioned shoes, Mina wouldn't have immediately recognized him.

Recovery Girl reappeared, gave Mina and Kyoka a nod of approval and began tending to Midori. Before the doors could swing shut, they slammed open again to admit Ochako and Tooru.

"Girls," Recovery Girl cut them off before they could even start, "I'm going to ask you to wait outside for a few moments while I tend to them. This is a bit more in-depth than just a few bruises, so I need to concentrate."

Ochako clearly wanted to protest and Tooru's body language suggested that she wasn't feeling too cooperative at the moment either, but Mina and Kyoka shooed them out and closed the doors behind them.

"How about we kill some time with you telling us _what the hell happened_?" Kyoka suggested, clearly thrown off by the extent of the injuries and what that suggested about the fight.

Mina nodded emphatically. She would watch the recording later, of course, but she really, _really_ didn't want to wait to hear this.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was in a bit of a hurry and he was pretty sure that Iida was feeling the same way. The two combatants stood across from each other in the arena. Their match had been delayed while the leftover ice from the previous match was cleared out. It hadn't taken long, but Katsuki really, _really_ wanted to be elsewhere right then. Namely, at the infirmary.

"Oi, Iida, let's get this shit over and done with. We've got more important things to do."

"I agree completely, Bakugo-san. Let us dispense with the formalities and reach a decisive outcome at once."

"We're both ready, Midnight-sensei. Just start the match."

"I concur."

Midnight was clearly taken aback by this, but there was no rule explicitly against it, so she decided to roll with it.

"Very well. Final match of the second round: Katsuki Bakugo versus Tenya Iida. Take your positions…and begin!"

"Recipro Burst!"

Iida came screaming out of the gate at full speed, clearly looking to make good on their mutual promise to end the match quickly.

Unfortunately for him, Katsuki had seen this coming. After all, it only made sense to use your best attack if you were looking to end something with a single shot and there was no more powerful tool in Iida's repertoire for that then Recipro Burst.

It was a powerful technique, Katsuki wasn't about to deny that. The massive speed boost allowed Iida to leverage his large frame and generate even more momentum to fuel his already-destructive kicks.

At the same time, that insane speed was also it's weakness. As things were, it was limited to a straight-line attack. Iida might be able to do a bit of maneuvering with it, but it wouldn't be enough to disguise his intentions from someone like Katsuki who had both the battle awareness and the reflexes to anticipate and intercept his opponent's movements.

Iida wanted to end the match as quickly as possible. There were only two ways to do that without forfeiting: a ring-out or a one-hit K.O. If he was going for the latter, then a kick to the head would be his best option. Having said that, there was no way in hell that Iida would do that. For one thing, there was always the chance that a kick that powerful could land wrong and do some serious damage. In a genuine battle with lives on the line, it was an acceptable risk to take, but not in a match like this. Secondly, Iida knew Katsuki and was at least somewhat familiar with his abilities. That meant he knew that there was about a snowball's chance in hell that he would land a clean hit on Katsuki's head if he saw it coming.

This meant that Iida would be going for the ring-out. That meant that he would be aiming for a high-impact attack that would transfer as much of the force of his kick as possible, which meant he could only really be going for one thing.

"Body shot!" Katsuki shouted as he seized Iida's leg with his arms and spun with his opponent's forward momentum, trying to both minimize the impact and make the force work _with_ him instead of against him. The result was Katsuki pulling about half of the muscles in his legs as he spread them wide and dug his feet into the ring, absorbing Iida's lateral motion and spinning him in a wide circle that culminated in an explosion-assisted release as he hurled his opponent skyward and out of the ring.

Iida had barely hit the ground when Katsuki was already hauling ass out of the ring towards the nearest exit.

"Get off your ass and follow me to the infirmary, Iida!"

"Yes!"

Midnight had apparently realized why the pair had been in such a hurry, because she was currently gushing about youthful friendship and comradery among other things. Katsuki wasn't really paying attention.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Mina was currently staring slack-jawed at Ochako and Tooru, who had finished explaining what had happened during the match, taking it in turns to talk. She had thought that she wanted to see the recording of the match before, but she had been sorely mistaken. After hearing the story and seeing the expression on Ochako's face and the energy behind Tooru's gestures, Mina _really_ wanted to see the recording. No, she _had_ to see it or she would drive herself insane trying to imagine everything.

Kyoka, meanwhile, had crossed her arms in an apparent effort to keep her hands pinned in place so that she wouldn't be tempted to tear off her ear bandages. Mina could only imagine how frustrating _that_ must have been.

"Geez, no wonder they were both so beat-up. Well, Recovery Girl's looking after them, so I'm sure they'll be fine, right?"

"I don't know. Seeing Deku-kun like that sort of reminds me of how he looked after USJ…" Ochako trailed off, clearly not doing herself any favors in the worry department.

"Honestly, I'm more worried about how Todo's doing on a mental level, you know?" Tooru said, "I mean, I can't ever remember seeing him this hurt and I've _definitely_ never seen him lose before either! Not to mention that this match in particular seemed really personal to both of them, not just him! I hope that things won't be weird between them now or anything. That'd suck."

"Oh! I didn't think of that!" Ochako was clearly shocked by this new avenue of concern, "They were talking about something like that before the first event too, weren't they?"

"Who was talking about what now?"

The three girls who could hear normally all turned to see Bakugo and Iida jogging down the hallway towards them, Bakugo having been the one to speak.

"Judging by your presence out here, I take it that Recovery Girl is still working on them?" Iida inquired.

"What? Does someone else need me already?" speak of the devil, apparently. Recovery Girl pushed the infirmary doors outward and scanned the group for her next patient, "Honestly, every year it's the same…"

"Um, Recovery Girl, are Deku-kun and Todoroki-san alright?" Ochako asked cautiously, not wanting to direct the elderly woman's ire towards herself.

"Yes, they'll both be fine. I suppose since they're currently unconscious I may as well pass their instructions along to you."

After they followed her in to the temporary infirmary, she gestured to Todoroki, who looked a lot less rough than before.

"This one's injuries were relatively simple in nature. Mostly blunt-force trauma and some cracked bones, but nothing too bad. He had some minor burns along his right side, but those are hardly worth mentioning thanks to his temperature resistance. Given that he has no further matches, I healed him completely, so he might be out for a while. There aren't any special instructions for him other than to take it easy for a day or so."

Tooru sighed in relief and promised to let him know. Satisfied, Recovery girl then moved over to Midori's bed.

Like Todoroki, he looked much, much better. Unlike Todoroki, he was clearly not out of the woods just yet.

"Burns. Most of them second-degree but some lower, with the worst being from the elbows down." Recovery Girl said flatly, "Not even the worst he's ever come here with, but where the quality was low, the quantity was through the roof. His forearms and hands also suffered a large amount of blunt-force trauma and there were more than a few fractures. Needless to say, the hands and forearms were my priority. I've healed the bones to the point where he'll be sore for a while, but should have full functionality. As for the burns, I soothed them some, but he'll still have symptoms similar to a particularly pad sunburn until I have another round with him. I deliberately left him in a state where he should wake up fairly soon, but I don't think I have to tell you that I'm against him fighting another match today. Of course, I'm against the whole thing anyway as a matter of principle, so what do I know?"

The students wisely kept quiet as the elderly nurse grumbled to herself before continuing.

"As for instructions, he's to eat something in order to get his energy back and then come see me at his earliest opportunity for another round of healing unless he finds the prospect of walking around with full-body burns to be a desirable one, understand?"

"Sure, but what do you mean that the burns weren't that bad?" Bakugo queried.

"Indeed. He was quite literally on fire for half of the match." Iida concurred.

"Well, this is just a theory of mine, mind you, but I think he might be developing some sort of resistance to them." Recovery Girl said thoughtfully, "I was observing the match myself and I can say without a doubt that his burns _should_ have been much worse than they were. The only possible explanations are that I saw things incorrectly or that the flames truly didn't do as much damage as they should have. I very much doubt that he will ever reach the point of full immunity, but maybe he won't cause quite as much trouble for me sometime in the future. That would be nice. Either way it's far too early to tell for certain. Like I said, it could very well be a coincidence or a result of melted ice soothing his skin or something." she waved dismissively and made her way back to her office.

As the six conscious students in the room mulled over what they had been told and arranged themselves more comfortably, Bakugo voiced a new concern.

"It's great that he'll be okay and all, but…our match is basically ruined at this point. He might not wake up in time and even if he _does_ there's no guarantee that he'll be in any condition to do the fight justice."

"Mmm, yes." Iida solemnly agreed, adjusting his glasses, "Truly a shame. I daresay that the members of the audience that recognized Uraraka-san and Shoji-san likely recognized the two of you as well and would have very much enjoyed a rematch."

"That's bad though, isn't it?" Mina opined, "I mean, if he took things so far that he can't even keep going after a victory, then wouldn't that look bad to the Heroes in the audience? Self-control is important, after all."

This was particularly true for people who could, say, do something akin to secreting potentially face-melting acid, but she didn't say that part.

"Shit, that _would_ be bad!" Bakugo started towards Midori's bed, "We gotta shake his ass awake and get him on his feet quick!"

"Ah, it seems that I arrived at an opportune moment. No need to worry just yet, Bakgugo-san." the deep, soothing voice heralded the arrival of Shoji, who easily filled the doorway with his arms outstretched as he pushed the doors open.

"The fuck are you talking about, Shoji? And what took you so long to show up anyway?"

"As it happens, the answers to each of those questions are one and the same. Shortly after your match ended, Present Mic announced that there would be a brief intermission before the 'final stretch' as he put it. I believe this is both to drive more business to the concession stands as well as to build suspense before the semifinals begin."

"Oh, so we can afford to let him rest a bit longer. Alright then." Bakugo resumed his place sitting on an empty portion of a nearby table, seemingly satisfied for the time being.

Mina was internally relieved as well. After all, the more time Kaminari had to get his energy back, the better his chances of winning his match. From what she had learned about the effects of his Quirk, the key to recovery was really just time. This was a good thing in some ways, since it meant that the cure for what ailed him was just to wait it out, but on the flipside, it also meant that in a situation where time was in short supply he would have to carefully ration his power.

Well, as long as everything turned out alright in the end, then Ei would be able to hold his head high, not that he couldn't anyway but sometimes the supposedly-simple issue of male pride was actually a bit more complicated than people gave it credit for.

"Huh? What's going on? You're not all here for me, are you?"

The subject of Mina's thoughts had apparently regained consciousness and was rightfully confused. Even though she had known on an intellectual level that everything would be fine, she still sighed with relief at seeing him sitting up and looking around like nothing had happened. All he needed at this point was words and, fortunately, Mina was a talker.

Elsewhere, however, there was a situation brewing where words simply wouldn't be enough.

If Iida had known of the news that he would receive in less than an hour, then he would have been far less able to casually relax and chat with his friends, but such is the nature of receiving a shock.

* * *

 **I had a hard time coming up with a good chapter name, especially after having an actual good one last time. In reality, I'm garbage at naming things, so I usually just take a memorable/defining quote from the chapter and use that, but nothing really leapt out at me this time. Oh well.**

 **I say this about a lot of characters (which is a good thing), but I enjoy writing Mina. She's refreshingly straightforward.**

 **Incidentally, that brings a question to mind. A lot of people claim that male authors have some noticeable issues with writing female characters. Nobody has mentioned anything about this to me so far, but just out of curiosity, how do you all think I'm doing in this regard?**

 **Next time, you read that correctly folks, we're going straight from one big fight to another! It's Stain time, baby! Here's hoping I don't screw it up!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	42. Omake 3

**Torchbearer has officially passed the 1,000 review mark! My original intention was to celebrate this with the Stain vs. Ingenium fight, but due to this and that I do not have that chapter quite ready yet. So instead, here's the first Omake idea that I ever had for Torchbearer. The idea, as I'm sure you can tell from the title, stemmed from the well-received Kurogiri bar scene from Chapter 27. It started as just a joke but I think I've managed to build it up into just a little bit more than that. You be the judge!**

 **As before, since this is not an official chapter, we will resume with the review responses next time. Enjoy!**

* * *

Omake: Kurogiri's Bar Stories – Discretion

A lingering chill in the air on a night like any other. A dark street with vacant lots aplenty lit by only a few scattered street lamps. It goes without saying that for most people, it's past their bedtime.

But not for you. Not tonight.

A sturdy wooden door is pushed inwards on protesting hinges, admitting a fairly nondescript individual whose unhesitating beeline for the bar reveals their familiarity with the establishment.

The bartender smiles at you with only his eyes. This is not because he is an unexpressive individual, but simply because the two sharp, glowing yellow slits in his otherwise featureless visage are all that he has to work with. Some find this off-putting at first, but for his regulars his expressions are fairly easy to distinguish.

"Ah, welcome. The usual, I presume?"

The question is polite and genuine. There is no sense of monotony or weariness in it. You could very easily order the same thing you always do without any sense of guilt over the fact that you must be a rather uninteresting customer to serve if you only ever order one thing.

As you take a moment to decide (you always take a moment to decide, even though you always order the same thing), you glance around the bar out of a sense of idle curiosity. You notice that the place is unusually empty tonight. It is only yourself, the bartender and a pair of gentlemen nursing their drinks in the corner booth.

This strikes you as somewhat odd. Though the establishment is a small one, only seating about thirty people when full (and only if none of them are particularly large), there is usually at least three or four others besides yourself, at least when you arrive.

Something about tonight is different.

You have no particular reason for knowing this, you simply know it. There is some intangible sensation in the back of your mind saying "Tonight. Tonight is different. You should embrace it."

You find this urge to be quite irresistible and turn your head back to the bartender, soul burning with adventurous purpose.

"Oh?"

Something in your eyes must have alerted him to the change in your disposition. Either that or he, like so many other bartenders, has simply mastered the art of reading the room. Either way he returns your gaze, head slightly cocked with curiosity as he rests his hands on the counter behind the bar, giving you his undivided attention.

"I think I want something different tonight." you tell him.

"Indeed? Have you anything particular in mind?"

You think for a moment, before deciding to once more embrace the adventurous purpose within yourself.

"Surprise me."

"The two men in the corner are plotting a murder."

To his credit, this surprises you very much.

"I'm not sure you should have told me that." are the first words you are able to muster after figuring out how to breathe again.

"Oh? But you seemed so determined to make this a memorable night that I simply _had_ to do something to match your intensity. And besides," here he turned to the shelf behind him and began selecting a few bottles, "discretion is one of the core tenets of this bar. You appreciate this, I'm sure?"

It was said in a casual, matter-of-fact tone. There was absolutely nothing about the way it was said that could imply any form of intimidation or blackmail. Nevertheless, you feel a chill work its way down your spine.

The meaning is clear: "I'm telling you this because I know for a fact that you would never breathe a word of it to anyone outside of these walls."

"A customer is important. A regular such as yourself, however, is precious beyond words. It is for this reason that a bartender must go above and beyond when such a person makes an unusual request."

A bottle of amber liquid is set in front of you, label facing away until the bartender sharply rotates the bottle in a showy manner as he begins to describe it to you.

"Templeton Rye. An American whiskey from the days of the Prohibition and a favorite of Al Capone." as he speaks, the bartender places three more bottles on the bar, two large and one small along with a martini glass and a shaker, which he fills with ice, "In honor of that, I have thought of a drink that might serve as an amusing diversion for you."

"Place ice, two ounces of Rye Whiskey, three-quarters of an ounce of Grand Marnier and a dash of bitters into a cocktail shaker and stir gently." he narrates the recipe as he performs it before you, "Strain into a martini glass and then add one ounce of champagne and a twist of lemon." he slides the glass towards you, "I give you a Bootlegger."

Aptly named, given the situation. A Prohibition-era throwback where discretion, above all else, was vital. The suppliers were secret, the transporters were secret and the locations of the speakeasies were secret.

Even so, a great many still knew about them.

Just what sort of message was the bartender trying to convey? You eventually decide to stop thinking so much about it and begin sipping your drink. The whiskey is strong, as expected, but the other ingredients serve to mellow it out somewhat and the champagne adds a crisp edge as the alcohol warms you from the inside.

"Hey, Kuro, can we trouble you for a refill over here?" one of the men in the corner calls to the bartender.

"Of course." he immediately responds and fills two tall mugs with beer from a nearby tap before delivering the refreshments and returning with the empty glasses.

"Their names are Terry and Steve, in case you were wondering." he chats with you while he dutifully cleans the old glasses, "This is their fourth drink, so you'll likely be able to hear them before long. It's a rather curious coincidence, actually: your schedules usually wouldn't mesh, but something came up on their end, necessitating an off-schedule meeting. I suppose worlds will collide or, at least, brush against each other this evening."

You stare into your half-empty glass before narrowing your eyes and taking the rest in a single gulp, seeking the courage to ask what you want to ask.

"Oh, my. Would you like another?" you nod in response and take a deep breath.

"Tell me more." you manage as he is in the process of mixing another drink for you.

"Beg pardon?" you can tell from the playful tone in his voice that he knows exactly what you mean, but is going to make you say it.

"You said that they were plotting a murder and that they meet regularly. Tell me more."

"Getting into the spirit of things I see. Very well." he serves you another Bootlegger, takes a moment to gather his thoughts and then begins to speak.

"As I'm sure you know, there are all manner of Quirks in this world. Some are purely cosmetic, while others cannot be seen with the naked eye. This story deals with the latter. There exists a certain man in a certain place whose location is unknown except for those few who know where it is and are allowed to remain breathing. Steve over there is one such man, though I cannot be sure if that is his actual name or not."

"Anyhow, there is a man in the custody of Steve's facility with a highly unusual Quirk. Namely, his Quirk allows him to resurrect upon his death with the time between his death and resurrection determined by the severity of said death. However, if a certain method is used more than once then he will recover from it more quickly. This part of his Quirk was discovered when they thought to simply shoot him in the head over and over until it didn't even last long enough to throw his corpse back in his holding cell."

"This, you see, is where Terry comes in. He has quite the unusual title as a self-proclaimed Murderologist. It has become necessary for Steve to enlist his services for the purpose of researching the effects of various fatal applications and combining them in new and creative ways with the purpose of keeping their prisoner down long enough for them to attempt to discover how his Quirk actually _works_ in the hopes of one day putting him down for good."

"Why not just throw him in a volcano or something?" you idly suggest, the alcohol having apparently served to temper your nerves against the unusual circumstances.

The bartender chuckles.

"They actually tried that. Flew him out to Kilauea in Hawaii and dropped him straight into a lake of lava. He reappeared in Shinjuku about a month and a half later."

This prompts you to finish your second drink.

"So you see, they're in something of a pickle when it comes to total body destruction. He has an annoying tendency of popping up in seemingly random locations when they do that. If the majority of his body is intact, or, at least, physically present, then he will simply rejuvenate from said pieces. As you can imagine, this makes certain prospects such as simply blowing him up or firing him into the sun rather risky."

You find yourself unable to tell whether or not the bartender is being serious about that last method and that scares you enough to ask for a third drink.

"Alright, so let's take this from the top then. I'm asking you to keep him down for a minimum of three weeks this time." the voice is the same one that asked for a refill on the drinks earlier.

"Hmm…" a new voice, presumably Terry, takes a moment before continuing.

"Alright. Hit him with a bat, stab him, chop off his arms, stab him again, chop off his legs, punch him in the stomach and then chop off his head. That should keep him down for two-and-a-half to three weeks at least."

"Two-and-a-half to three isn't _three_ , Terry." Steve sounds unimpressed.

"What do you want from me, Steve?!" Terry snaps at him, "You know as well as I do that this is more art than science sometimes! Kick him in the balls, shoot his dog, fuck his mother _I'm open to_ _ **suggestions**_ _!_ "

"Terry, okay, Terry? Calm down. I suppose you might say I'm a little bit… _concerned_ is all. After all, your calculations last time said a week but he came out of it after five-and-a-half days. _While he was on the table._ I'm sorry if I'm coming across as a bit…well…you know, but scientists don't come cheap, especially when you need them to keep their mouths shut. Discretion's expensive and negotiating those details is always a headache. Now, you're being paid good money for your expertise and creativity and overkill is _always_ preferable when it comes to this guy, understand?"

"I…yes. Yes, I'm sorry. I'll rework the equation and shoot for three to three-and-a-half."

"That's all I'm asking, Terry. No matter what happens, we can't let a guy like this get loose. Someone who has no reason to fear death and only needs to blow himself up to make a getaway when things get dicey? He'd be unstoppable."

Their conversation trails off as they realize how loud they were getting, but you've heard enough. You finish your drink, say goodbye to the bartender and make your way home.

The next time you griped to yourself about having a normal life with a standard job, all you would have to do is remind yourself that you could be involved in something like _that_ otherwise.

Discretion, after all, is key.

* * *

 **This is, at best, semi-canon since Kurogiri explicitly stated that he doesn't talk about customers to other customers in Chapter 27, but _you're_ special, aren't you?**

 **This is easily twice as long as my previous Omake, but it took pretty much the exact same amount of time to write. I guess it was just a story that I really wanted to tell.**

 **I hope you enjoyed it and, as always, thank you for reading!**


	43. Chapter 41: Hero Killer

**Alright! After that little delay we finally have the Ingenium vs. Stain fight that people have been waiting for! In other news, we have officially broken the 1,000 review mark and are getting closer to the 2,000 Follows mark every day!**

 **I'm not dragging this out any longer than it's already been XD Review Time:**

 **Slayer76, PokeKing Charizard, MarvelNinja10, Vilkath, HyperNinja203, scout360pyro, Malchior, ILiekFishes, StandupSitdown, SeanHicks4, Ooobserver, The 0bservanc3 : Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer my "how am I with writing females" question! The feedback is awesome and it seems like the general consensus is that I'm not doing a perfect job, but I'm doing well enough that it doesn't detract from the story for anyone. I will, as always, endeavor to improve!  
**

 **Reverseflash, LordXG3, uchihaNaruto247, D3lph0xL0v3r, The 0bservanc3, inFamousSlyMonkey, Eramis8, Tombs456, Ooobserver : It's great to see that people are enjoying the Omakes. This one in particular was more experimental than the other ones, what with the seldom-used second-person perspective and all, but it seems like it worked!  
**

 **uchihaNaruto247, D3lph0xL0v3r, Eramis8, Corruption of Saints, NB132, The 0bservanc3 : Understandably, there are more than a few of you looking forward to the Stain fight. I apologize again for the delay and I hope that you enjoy it!  
**

 **Duxbeli : I appreciate your appreciation! I know that it's not always 100% accurate, but I feel like putting some extra thought into various mechanics helps add a little something extra.**

 **the_narr_master : It's always nice to see people invested in my work. Your predictions about the upcoming matches also make sense, so we'll have to see what happens! I can't say anything about Ingenium without spoiling stuff, so you'll just have to ride that one out XD**

 **Corruption of Saints : If I can drive people insane with only my words, then I have done my job XD I freely admit that Shinso is one of the students whose Hero Name I am having the hardest time coming up with, partly because he doesn't have a canon name that I can just fall back on, so these suggestions are welcome. I hope this lives up to the hype!**

 **inFamousSlyMonkey : I will endeavor to remember to do this, or at least mention it in passing. I'm sure that they'll be suitably impressed/terrified by it!**

 **HyperNinja203 : Yeah, having a bit where everyone watches a recording of their fights, maybe as a group, would be a fun scene. I'll try and remember to do that!**

 **Mrguy22594 : Shoto definitely still has stuff to do in the story, no worries there!**

 **SeanHicks4 : Maca Powder is different from Matcha Powder. I actually only discovered it when I started doing some basic research on energy supplements and stuff like that. It's derived from the maca root and is supposed to do a bunch of stuff. Supposedly it was taken by ancient warriors before battle and whatnot.**

 **luisAM21 : Great to hear that you've been enjoying it that much! My posting schedule is every other Sunday unless Real Life interferes in some way and in those cases I will either give you guys a heads up or try and still post something small like an Omake.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Mina is one of those characters where I occasionally find myself surprised at the direction she goes in, but I never feel like I've done something _wrong_ with her. I probably have Awkward Energy to thank, since Mina is a main character in that. I have no idea if headbanging actually affects babies. Kyoka was pretty much just venting. You are correct in thinking that their clashing opinions will come to a head at some point.**

 **Canon Tenya first displayed Recipro Burst during the Cavalry Battle and used it again during his battle with Shoto, so he definitely knew it at this point, though it is of course not mastered yet either here or in canon. When it comes to specific moments/complicated movements, I do actually stand up and attempt to act them out. I actually had my roommate help me with Katsuki and Momo's grappling during their match just to make sure it was physically feasible.** **As for Izuku's burn resistance, little of column A, little of column B.**

 **As for the Omake, I found myself slipping into second person and thought "eh, why not?" and decided to experiment. It was pretty fun. Yeah, Terry and Steve are probably foreigners. I would say the reason why All For One hasn't acquired Totally-Not-Doomsday's Quirk yet is because he either doesn't know about him or just doesn't know where he's being held. Or maybe he doesn't want to screw with Interpol/whoever these guys are.**

 **Manny Siliezar : Congratulations on being number 1,000!**

 **Slayer76 : You (and this goes for everyone else too!) can totally borrow Torchbearer! Izuku for a crossover, spoof, or whatever. Or any of my characters for that matter! My only condition is and has always been that you A) credit me for the idea and B) tell me when it gets uploaded so I can read it :D**

 **Steelrain66, Mangahero18, E_N_D the FireDragonslayer, Ezylryb, TheGreatBubbaJ, Kaiser Chris, shanekg, Zukafew119, Batmarcus, Tombs456, Sentinel07, BanTheFairyKing, The Keeper of Worlds and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, no more delay! Let's get into the scene that I wish canon had thought to include: Team Idaten vs. the Hero Killer!**

* * *

Chapter Forty-One: Hero Killer

"Oi, Hero Killer! Come on out and face me! You use a sword, right? How can you call yourself a swordsman if you refuse an honorable duel like this?!"

Ken Ichikire, known to the world at large as Iai of Team Idaten, was pacing in a circle in the center of a moderately large space situated between several of the buildings that formed the system of Hosu alleyways that he and his team had been tasked with searching in hopes of locating the elusive Hero Killer. The other members of the seven-man squad were working in pairs, but Ken was on his own.

The reasoning behind this decision was actually rather simple: Ken's job was to be the bait. He had enough of a reputation even as a Sidekick that the Hero Killer would doubtless have heard of him. There was a good chance that he would actively target Iai once he knew his location and that he was alone, especially because members of a large group such as Team Idaten tended to be difficult to isolate, given this particular groups penchant for teamwork.

Iai was a bit of an odd duck in this regard. In a group that prized teamwork and coordination above all else, he was more of a solo fighter. It wasn't because he didn't see the merits of teamwork or anything like that, but simply because his combat abilities were in a league of their own with the exception of the Iidas and maybe one or two of the other Sidekicks on a good day.

In other words, he was the one most likely to both draw the attention of the Hero Killer and be able to fight him off long enough for their trap to be sprung.

"Come on! I'm right here! Come and get me!"

The problem, as things stood, was that he had been shouting like an idiot for nearly ten minutes at this point and the murderous son of a bitch had yet to show his face. Iai had to resist the urge to radio the rest of his team and ask about their progress. There was, after all, a good chance that his quarry was watching him from somewhere and he couldn't risk tipping him off that there were others in the area.

Assuming, of course, that he didn't already know _anyway_.

Well, even if he _did_ know, Ken was fairly certain that nothing had happened to his teammates. Even if the worst-case scenario happened and one of the other members was taken out by a surprise attack in a single blow, their partner would still have enough time to say something, _anything_ to alert the other six that something had gone wrong. The fact that he had not heard such a message yet told the swordsman that while the plan might be dragging its feet a bit, it was at least still going as smoothly as could be expected.

And while the plan was on, he would stick to the script.

"Hey, asshole!"

"Now, I don't think there's any need for name-calling."

Iai whirled about, dropping into his stance as his hand flew to the hilt of the katana at his hip. His instantaneous movements were so sharp that the small clouds of dust kicked up by his feet almost seemed to be delayed by a fraction of a second.

It was then that Ken Ichikire laid eyes on the Hero Killer for the first time.

The Hero Killer was a tall man with a build that would be considered on the slender side were it not for the rock-hard muscle that was visible in places, particularly on his arms where his shoulders were bare and the rest was wrapped tightly in slightly yellowed bandages that disappeared beneath black wristbands. The rest of his body was covered with a dark combat suit that was protected in places by an odd assortment of metallic armor that almost looked like repurposed scraps. His lower legs and feet were particularly well-protected with the greave-like boots he wore, complete with spikes on the toes.

Jutting out from his left shoulder was the hilt of a guard-less katana and no fewer than five smaller handles protruded from various places on his torso, seemingly belonging to knives. His long, messy black hair stuck out wildly at various angles, clearly not having been washed regularly and only held back from his face by the blood-red headband he wore which matched the long, tattered scarf that hung loosely around his neck. The upper portion of his face was concealed beneath a long strip of tattered cloth that had holes cut in it to serve as a mask. All that was visible of his face was his sharp, angular jaw and wide mouth.

"Come on, if you were going to show up anyway, couldn't you have done it a bit sooner? Of course I'm starting to get annoyed!"

"Oh, and I suppose someone as apparently consumed with battle-mania as _you_ would just run headlong into any situation that screamed 'trap' as long as you got to fight." the Hero Killer shot back, "I suppose I can't fault you though; this sort of behavior is exactly why you aren't qualified to be a Hero. Even as a Sidekick though, you possess a large amount of influence within your organization and outside of it. Curse what talent you possess that you are _just enough_ of a stain on the name 'Hero' to warrant my judgement."

Iai had to give the guy some credit: he _definitely_ knew how to piss somebody off.

"Pretty big talk for a guy who just skulks around in the shadows and picks off small-fry. Let's see how you do when you're up against a _real_ warrior!"

With that, Iai dashed forwards with a single powerful thrust of his back leg and activated his Quirk, focusing on his right elbow.

 _SNAP!_

The only way to describe the speed of the diagonal slash that followed was "inhuman." Iai's Quirk, which he called "Snap," allowed him to instantly tighten various muscle groups in order to produce movements with far more speed and sharpness than any ordinary person could hope to achieve. In other words, movements with far more snap to them.

It wasn't something he could easily do in quick succession, which was why the single strike style of Iaijutsu appealed to him so much. If he could finish any battle with a single hit taken to the very limit of what the human body could accomplish, then whatever came after would be irrelevant.

"My, my. That was a close one."

…At least, that was the idea.

The Hero Killer had somehow managed to avoid his instantaneous slash by leaping back at a precise angle so that his body was located outside of the diagonal line drawn by Iai's sword, but the only way that could have been possible is…

"You knew."

"It's not that complicated, you know. If I'm fighting a man who quite literally _calls_ himself 'Iai,' then of course I'm going to be on the lookout for attacks like that."

No. There was more to it than that. Just _knowing_ that the attack was coming wouldn't have done him any good if he wasn't physically up to the task of dodging within the small window between when it was launched and when it would have connected with him.

In other words, not only was this guy skilled in stealth and intelligence-gathering, but he was also really, really fast.

Iai was starting to realize how it was that he had managed to cripple twenty-two Pro Heroes and kill another seventeen outright without being caught.

 _Well, that's fine. It's not like all I did was practice my quick-draw. I can still fight!_

With that thought in mind and carrying a new level of caution, Iai advanced towards the Hero Killer once more, eyeing his now-drawn katana. Their were nicks and scratches all down the blade from the heavy, regular use that it saw while its user either didn't care to repair it or lacked the proper tools to do so.

"HAH!" Iai took the offensive, launching into a chain of slashes that flowed into each other with a practiced ease that put his experience on full display. The Hero Killer was able to dodge or parry all of them, but the pressure Iai was putting on him prevented him from countering, at least at first. After several seconds of this, the Hero Killer's defenses began to become sharper and faster. Iai knew that this mean that he had begun to get a feel for the rhythm of his blows. Soon he would feel comfortable enough to launch a counterattack. This was all according to the plan, for while Iai could not chain together Snap attacks, he could certainly mix them in.

 _SNAP!_

A fierce, downward strike intended to chop off his opponent's sword arm. It wouldn't kill as long as he stopped the bleeding and saw to it that his foe received medical attention afterwards, but he would be effectively crippled for the time being. A murderer deserved no more mercy than was absolutely necessary, after all.

* **WHOOSH** *

If it hadn't been for Iai's intense focus, he would have suffered a gaping wound across his torso. As it was, he had just barely managed to jerk out of the way of the Hero Killer's retaliatory uppercut.

 _He dodged it again! The first time I could understand it, but how did he see this one coming?!_

"Did you know your expression changes just before you use your Quirk?"

"What?"

"You clench your teeth due to the strain and that makes your jaw tense up. Ordinarily I'd recommend practicing in front of a mirror, but that information isn't of much use to a dead man."

Ken could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"Wow, you really did your research, huh? I wonder if I should be flattered or repulsed?"

"Don't be ridiculous. It was just something I noticed when you attacked me the first time, so I kept my eyes on your face to see if you'd do it again. You'd think that fake Heroes who are always so concerned with their appearances would realize the sorts of faces that they make, but it never ceases to amaze me how unguarded they really are. Let me show you what I mean!"

With that final statement, the Hero Killer threw his sword at Iai.

 _He…what?_

It was the sort of thing that no self-respecting swordsman would ever have done. Iai hadn't even considered it as a _possibility_ in terms of methods of attack. The sudden shock to his system caused his reaction time to drop just a fraction of a second. While he was able to deflect the sword and the small folding knife that the Hero Killer had produced from god-knows-where, the follow-up thrust with one of the combat knives managed to just barely scratch his torso before he leapt away.

 _Okay, fine. I need to watch out for ranged attacks too. He caught me off-guard with that one, but it won't happen again!_

Iai prepared himself to re-engage his opponent, but hesitated when he saw the satisfied smirk that stretched across the Hero Killer's wide mouth. He wasn't some amateur that would be pleased about such a small injury and he was too composed to be some freak who got his jollies off of seeing blood.

Something was _wrong_.

That thought momentarily eclipsed all others in the veteran Sidekick's mind and he abandoned all pretenses, activating his communicator without hesitation.

"Kogane, Hoyo, _now_!"

The fact of the matter was that this had been the plan all along: Kogane and Hoyo would lie in wait nearby for Iai to give the signal after he had engaged the Hero Killer. Kogane would use Gold to momentarily stop his movements while Hoyo moved in with Big Hug to lock him down for good. It was a tried and true strategy that had worked for the pair dozens of times before and with Iai serving to distract the Hero Killer, he wouldn't have enough time to react.

Iai had sprung traps before. Every single time he had done so, his opponent had reacted in some way or another. Some freaked out, some laughed, some charged him in an attempt to take him down and escape, others tried to run away.

The Hero Killer did none of these things. His expression didn't change at all as he extended a tongue that was definitely at least twice as long as a normal person's and licked Iai's blood off of his knife.

The effect was immediate and irresistible: Iai's body lost all tension and collapsed to the ground. He was paralyzed by some unseen force as the Hero Killer approached him with an almost lazy gait, drawing another of his knives as he did so.

Why wasn't there a response from the communicator? Where were Kogane and Hoyo?

"What…did…you…do?" Iai managed to force his mouth and lips to form words as the spiked boots of the Hero Killer grew larger and larger.

"Oh, you're referring to your backup? Well, I didn't spend _all_ of my time watching you. I figured that you must have had some form of plan in mind, so I took a quick look around and, well, I did mention how I was always surprised about how unguarded you fake Heroes can be."

He didn't mean…he _couldn't_ mean…

"Bas…tard!"

"Die now, and take with you the legacy of yet another False Hero."

"Tick!"

"Tock!"

A diving punch smashed the Hero Killer's head to the side just before a sudden sweeping kick took his legs out from underneath him. The reason for this was the sudden appearance of a pair of twins wearing skintight jumpsuits. They weren't identical, since Tick was a man and Tock was a woman, but their identical hairstyles and incredibly similar faces caused a sense of uncanny disconnect for those meeting them unexpectedly or for the first time.

And they weren't done with the Hero Killer just yet.

"Tick!"

Tick punted the Hero Killer's still-airborne body with more force than his slender body should have allowed.

"Tock!"

Tock intercepted the flying Villain with an axe kick that smashed him to the ground and likewise seemed to be more potent than her physique would suggest.

"Tick!"

Almost before the Hero Killer had hit the ground, the brother was already descending towards him with a flying elbow drop intended to knock the wind out of him.

"That's enough of that!" the Hero Killer had been blindsided by their sudden appearance and perfectly-coordinated assault, but now his head was back in the game as he rolled out of the way of the elbow and seized one of Tick's legs as he spun to his feet, hurling her into the side of a nearby dumpster as a front kick forced Tock to take evasive action.

Iai mentally cursed. If they had just managed to land a few more hits, then the twins' power would have grown enough to pose a credible threat. As it stood, they were only about even with Iai himself in terms of physical ability at the moment.

Tick and Tock were a rare example of twins sharing a Quirk. Theirs was called Pendulum and it raised their power and speed for each alternating blow that was struck against a single target with the caveat that the effects would reset when one of them attacked out of turn or struck a different target. If they were able to rack up a total of ten hits or so, then their teamwork combined with their increased attributes might have been able to pressure the Hero Killer. As it stood, they were at a total of four. Nothing to take lightly, but hardly something that would be overwhelming.

If there was one good thing that could be said about the current situation, it was that the Hero Killer did not currently have his sword and therefore lacked the reach advantage that it would give him against unarmed opponents.

If there was a second…Iai couldn't see it.

Apparently, the Hero Killer could if the way he appeared to relax slightly as he drew two more knives was any indication.

"Are you coming to me, or should I come to you?" he addressed Tick directly.

 _No…there's no way! Are you telling me that he maintained enough awareness during their surprise attack that he already has an inkling of what their Quirk might be?!_

"Your attempts at mental warfare are pointless. My sister and I are not as emotionally unstable as that old man on the ground over there."

"Hmm. I suppose we'll see."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Tensei Iida was currently being reminded of why he typically did not enjoy trying to use his Quirk in a confined space such as, for instance, a system of alleyways. In order to build up a sufficient amount of speed, a certain amount of uninterrupted distance was required. Once he was moving at a certain rate, he would not be able to turn quite as sharply. In a situation comprised of nothing except for ninety-degree turns, this meant that he could not rush to the aid of his Sidekicks as quickly as he otherwise would.

As soon as Iai had called for backup and Kogane and Hoyo had failed to respond, Tensei had known that something was wrong. He had immediately radioed in and gotten Iai's location from mission control, but he had been forced to leave Spike to catch up if he wanted to arrive in time to save anyone.

What made the situation worse was that, since Iai hadn't had the opportunity to deactivate his communicator, Tensei could hear everything that was going on.

He heard the Hero Killer's revelation as to the fates of Kogane and Hoyo. He heard as Tick and Tock came to the rescue and he heard as the Hero Killer began to systematically dismantle their offensive.

Tick went down first. Tensei heard him call his sister's name before a grunt of pain followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground. Tock fought back as hard as she could, but without the ability to use her Quirk with her brother, it was only a matter of time.

Tensei poured on as much speed as he could, scraping and scuffing his armor as he streaked around corner after corner, knowing that he was getting close to the specified location.

" _You and your brother work well together, but I'm afraid this is the end for you."_

"RAAAAH!"

He heard Iai's yell both from his headset and from the chosen arena. It was just around the corner now.

Tensei skidded into view of the arena just in time to see Iai tackling Tock out of the way of the Hero Killer's finishing blow, his severed arm gently rotating through the air as it described an arc of blood.

"RUN!" Tensei bellowed as he charged the Hero Killer, revving up the engines that resided in his elbows so that he could accelerate to top speed in an instant if needed.

"That won't be necessary." the Hero Killer held up a hand and turned away from the three Sidekicks to give Tensei his undivided attention, "They can leave. As soon as I realized who I was dealing with, _you_ became my target, Ingenium." he glanced over his shoulder for a brief moment and addressed Iai, "You might want to do something about that blood loss before it kills you, though."

"Since you're in such a generous mood, I don't suppose you'd let me take him to safety?" Ingenium asked.

"I'm afraid that I can't let you escape. With a Quirk like yours, I could hardly have asked for a better situation. The twins will have to make do."

It was at this point that Tensei saw Tick slowly standing up, using a wall to support himself with one arm while the other was pressed against a nasty-looking abdominal gash.

"Fine. As long as you promise to let them go, I won't run away. You have my word on that, Hero Killer Stain."

"Iida, don't let him get any of your blood!" Iai said through gritted teeth as Tock tied a makeshift tourniquet around the stump of his arm, "He can paralyze you!"

"Got it, now get out of here!" Ingenium ordered.

As Stain walked over to pick up his sword, Tensei found himself infuriated by the calm, matter-of-fact expression on the man's face.

"Why?"

"Hmm?"

"You've killed seventeen, no, I suppose now that would be _nineteen_ Pro Heroes and you've crippled another twenty-three. For what? What possible reason could you have for killing people whose job is to _help people_?!"

"Your numbers are more or less accurate, but you're mistaken if you think I've been killing Heroes. No, what I do is cull False Heroes from this world. Those who view being a Hero as a means to a paycheck or a publicity stunt. Those who wear masks and believe themselves to be something more than human because of it. Those who allow greed, pride and worldly desires to get in the way of what a _real_ Hero should be!"

He raised his blade and pointed it at Ingenium, hatred in his eyes.

"In other words, people like _you_ , Ingenium!"

With that, he charged.

 _Boost!_

Ingenium fired a burst of force from his left engine, sending himself flying out of the path of Stain's attack immediately afterwards, he re-oriented himself in midair and fired a full-power burst from his right engine, arresting his momentum and sending him streaking towards his opponent.

 _No, this won't be enough._

Obeying his instincts, Ingenium angled his left engine downwards and made a burst-assisted flip over Stain's head just as his sword whistled through the space that he had just occupied. The armored Hero twisted in the air and fired off an engine-boosted punch that crashed into the back of Stain's head and send him rolling across the ground for several feet before he hopped back up as though he had only received a love tap.

 _So not only is he fast, he's tough too. Sure, that's fair. Guess I have to go all-out from the get-go here. I just need a bit more time before I'm fully-charged._

"What do you mean, people like me, Stain? Everything I do is to help people and set an example of how I believe Heroes should be!"

"And I suppose that massive, family-owned company of yours is just there to take up space? Don't make me laugh, Ingenium! You're a sucker for fame and fortune just like all the rest of these so-called Heroes, so do the world a favor and fall to my blade!"

"You're wrong! My company, my assets, my Sidekicks…the entirely of Team Idaten exists in order to facilitate what _should_ be the primary goal of every Hero: to help those in need! I have the lives of civilians in my hands, the hopes and dreams of my Sidekicks on my shoulders and the admiration of my younger brother in my heart! So, Hero Killer, I refuse to die here! RECIPRO BURST!"

Tongues of blue flame nearly two feet long sprayed from the exhaust ports coming out of Ingenium's elbows and his knees involuntarily bent as the overwhelming force attempted to drive him into the ground.

Recipro Burst. The act of increasing the output of Engine to its maximum and then slamming the proverbial gas pedal so hard that it broke through the floor. For Tensei in particular, this technique was a double-edged sword: Incredibly powerful but nearly impossible to control with any form of precision. Not to mention that when it wore off, his engines would stall out for a brief period.

It would not have been an exaggeration to say that Tensei Iida was going all-in. If he burned out his engines before taking Stain down, then the battle would be lost.

To Stain's eyes, what happened next could be best described as a six-foot tall man in shining armor with tongues of flame spewing from his elbows just up and vanishing. This was not the reality of the situation, of course, but simply the result of Tensei's ability to perform instantaneous acceleration. He did not have to work his way up through different gears in order to reach his maximum output and this came with its own set of risks and heavy strain on his body. It was only through endless training and tireless experimentation that he was able to reach a level where he could perform this technique while using Recipro Burst and even after that, he could only perform the technique while wearing his Hero Costume, which was equipped with recoil dampeners, g-force distributors, joint braces and at least a dozen other such features designed to prevent Tensei from breaking half the bones in his body whenever he used this particular technique.

The human brain is not generally well-equipped to deal with the concept of instantaneous acceleration. There is always at least a small amount of buildup. It's only common sense that in order to reach one-hundred, one must first reach one, two, three, four and so on. In some cases, such as with a car or plane, this buildup can take a very small amount of time. With something like a rocket or a gun, it can take practically no time at all. But, regardless of what it is, if you slow it down enough you can always watch the speedometer tick upwards.

In truth, Tensei's technique was no different. It is, after all, physically impossible to simply go from zero to one hundred with no time spent in-between. On a basic level, all Tensei did was accelerate so incredibly fast that the human eye was unable to perceive the change in his movements and, therefore, could not reliably track him. This resulted in the observer's brain having to take a moment to comprehend what it had just witnessed, causing a delay in reaction time. Upon having it explained to him, Tensei had come up with a name for the maneuver.

"Jet Lag!"

* **POW** *

The phrase "rocket punch" would only be a mild exaggeration if one attempted to describe the blow that had crashed into Stain's back and smashed him into and, subsequently, _through_ a nearby wall.

Ingenium had intended to pursue Stain and make sure that he was unconscious, but he staggered and involuntarily gripped his shoulder.

"Agh! Guess I shouldn't be using Jet Lag in conjunction with any attacks just yet. Too bad I don't seem to have much of a choice."

"On that, we can agree. If you were able to land one or two more hits like that, I might be in trouble."

Somehow, impossibly, Stain had already regained his feet and was standing with one foot resting on the edge of the hole his body had just created.

"How-" Tensei started before noticing that one of Stain's arms was hanging limply at his side.

"That's right. If that had been a clean hit, I'd be in trouble _now_ instead of later, but I was able to adjust myself and redirect the force towards my shoulder instead. When I kill you, Ingenium, you can die knowing that you at least managed to stall my judgement by a week or two. That's more than any of my other targets have been able to say.

"Impossible" was the word that Tensei _wanted_ to say. He couldn't think of anyone with the speed, reflexes and raw concentration required to react even _that_ much if they were seeing Jet Lag in action for the first time.

Anyone, apparently, besides the man standing in front of him.

"Heh. Looks like we've each lost an arm, doesn't it?" Ingenium said, projecting a level of bravado into his words that he absolutely didn't feel at the moment. In truth, his entire body was throbbing after that maneuver and while his arm was certainly the worst-off and Recipro Burst was still active, he wasn't at full strength anymore. Jet Lag and Recipro Punch was a combination that was intended to be a one-and-done solution to dealing with a powerful opponent that Recipro Burst wouldn't be enough for on its own.

Tensei had a brief flare of hope that perhaps his Sidekicks had managed to wear Stain down enough that they might still be about equal, but in his heart, he didn't believe it.

 _At least they can still get away and spread what we've learned about him so that the next Hero can have a better plan. This battle isn't pointless!_

… _No. I shouldn't be thinking like that. I need to take him down even if it kills me! As long as I can do that, then there's no chance that he'll be able to hurt anyone else!_

"No matter, seeing as how you're about to lose much more than that. I shall bear this wound as a parting gift from a worthy opponent."

Ingenium crouched, ignoring the screaming sensation in his arm as he forced his arms into position so that the mufflers on his elbows were parallel to his body, dropping into what almost looked like an exaggerated bow as his suit's functions allowed his engines to rev up for his final attack. There was no avoiding a stall after this, but it was his most powerful ability in terms of total speed and sheer power.

"ROCKET CHARGE!"

Ingenium flew towards Stain in an attempt to lay him low with a final, desperate, all-out attack. His senses were heightened by the life-or-death situation and he saw as his opponent took a knee, raised his sword in front of him and braced the blade with his forehead in lieu of his bad arm. The outcome was clear: the blade would carve through Tensei using his own momentum against him. The chances of it being non-fatal were very, very slim.

 _Tenya…I'm sorry._

And then there was blood.

* * *

 **Pretty much everyone probably knew how this was going to end going in, but hopefully it was enjoyable nonetheless. The other time that I remember feeling like I did when writing this scene was way back when I wrote the Katsuki vs Sludge Villain scene that didn't exist in canon either and I was happy with how that came out too, so hopefully that means something good!**

 **What is Big Bro Iida's fate? Will the damage that Stain took here have an impact on him going forward? Whatever happened with that Spike guy that I took my time building up and didn't do anything with in this chapter? The answers to these questions will be teased...RIGHT NOW:**

 **You'll find out, Yes, and You'll find out at the same time as the first one!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	44. Chapter 42: Priority

**Hello again! We're trucking along here and have very nearly reached the end of the Sports Festival. I estimate that it should wrap up next chapter and I will FINALLY be able to reveal the winner of our previous contest without spoiling anything.**

 **Review time:**

 **Komodo23, D3lph0xL0v3r, Slayer76, uchihaNaruto247, The Keeper of Worlds, Tonlor, Mrguy22594, Guest2, The 0bservanc3 : I'm glad that people enjoyed the fight and/or are looking forward to see how it ends. I will say that the outcome won't be exactly the same as in canon, in case that's not already obvious. Spike does certainly have his role to play, as many of you have already guessed. What exactly that is...you'll have to wait and see!  
**

 **Corruption of Saints : I agree that Stain could have done with sticking around a bit longer in the story as a whole. These are interesting suggestions for Kyoka's Hero Name, especially because I really don't like having the Hero Name and the Quirk name be the same, not to mention that Earphone Jack doesn't really roll off the tongue. There may very well come a time when I pull something similar to what canon did with Centipeder and Bubble Girl where I fish for ideas and include my favorite ones. If I do, it's good to know that there are people who would be ready and waiting!**

 **Guest3 : I totally understand what you mean about the "it's your Quirk" line seeming a bit more manipulative on Izuku's part than in canon, since Shoto using his flames would truly be a double-edged sword. At the same time, the core argument of ice being useless against Izuku still holds water, IMHO (no pun intended). Basically, Shoto had a lot less of an edge over Izuku this time around in that he didn't have a sure-fire (again, no pun intended) way of winning. His only real opportunity to put his opponent down was to use his fire or let him wear himself out, but he still has the issue of frostbite from only using his ice as he did in canon.**

 **In short, you're totally correct about it being a bit more manipulative on Izuku's part and I'm glad that it didn't detract from your enjoyment of the fight as a whole. There will still be more development for Shoto coming up, so it's not like this is the end for him either.**

 **roysilverblade : Thank you for the praise! I can understand how Ochako can seem a bit less interesting than the other female characters and I actually have an idea or two in the works to help remedy that. I think all she really needs is some fleshing out and maybe an extra character quirk or two and she'll be, if not on the same level as someone like Mina, at least more enjoyable.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Ah, there you are! Iai does indeed have his flaws, which is part of why he's a Sidekick, not a full-on Hero. Definitely good at what he does though, for sure. I always enjoy seeing your reviews progress as you read the chapter, such as when you question why Stain would walk into an obvious trap only to discover that he disarmed the trap without anyone knowing about it. I absolutely wanted to pull zero punches with my adaptation of Stain. He's meant to be warped, implacable, deadly and just generally a scary dude. It's good to know that I'm succeeding so far.**

 **If either Tick or Tock were to die, then there is a good chance that the other would lose much of their Quirk's effectiveness, yes. They would still register as having a Quirk, but it would be fundamentally useless. You are totally correct that Stain doesn't always kill and that he doesn't have a real reason to go after Tensei specifically. That's why I made Tensei the aggressor here: Stain went after Tensei because Tensei was coming after him. Even if he wouldn't have ordinarily targeted him, he'd be a fool to let a big catch in such ideal situation get away.**

 **Apart from Tensei having undergone the Iida Quirk strengthening method already, his Engine and Tenya's are slightly different. His is, of course, located on his elbows but he also doesn't have to work his way through gears like Tenya does, hence his ability to use Jet Lag, which is a move that Tenya could never use. Tenya, as a tradeoff, has better base maneuverability than Tensei, who struggles with tight turns and whatnot. Experience is, of course, another factor. As for why Stain got so serious about killing Tensei towards the end, it was partially out of desperation. He put on a tough front, but he was actually hurt pretty badly. Like he said, if Tensei had managed to get a clean hit off with Jet Lag and Recipro Punch, the fight might have ended right there and then.**

 **Logargon, Guest, HankFlamion18, beingwithu, Ezylryb, cequvarire, shanekg and everyone else: Thank you for your support and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Without further ado, let's visit the head of everyone's favorite bug zapper!**

* * *

Chapter Forty-Two: Priority

Denki Kaminari was simultaneously determined and really, really looking forward to the prospect of taking a nap. He had initially been anxious when the match between Bakugo and Iida had concluded in less than a minute, but then Present Mic had announced an intermission before the start of the semifinals and Denki had sagged into his chair with a fully-body sigh of relief and exhaustion. He might have even dozed off for a bit if his inability to remember the middle portion of the intermission was any indication.

Either way, he had at some point realized that the intermission was nearly over and now found himself standing in the familiar concrete hallway that led out onto the field.

 _That's not good. I can't even remember how I got here._

In an effort to send revitalizing oxygen to his brain, Denki took a long, deep breath, letting it out in a mighty yawn. It actually worked, sort of. He felt a bit more mentally alert and realized that, physically, he was feeling pretty good apart from his left arm which was still in its sling.

 _Huh. I guess that whatsit powder that Ashido gave me might actually be helping. I might actually be recharged enough to use my Quirk a little bit as long as I don't push it too much._

" _And his opponent, the electrical executive of Class 1-A, Denki Kaminari!"_

 _Huh. Guess Tokoyami got introduced already and I missed it? That's not a good sign. Come on, Denki: head in the game._

Denki cracked his heck and did his best to walk straight-backed out onto the field and up into the arena.

 _I have never hated stairs as much in my entire life._

In spite of his best efforts, Denki was unable to stifle another yawn as he approached his opponent, who cocked his head in an appropriately birdlike fashion.

"Are you well, Kaminari-san?"

" **Yeah, you kinda look like shit. No offense."** Dark Shadow added, poking his head out of Tokoyami's chest.

"Yeah, I'm not at my best right now." Denki admitted, "So, if you could just go ahead and surrender, that'd really make things easier for me."

"My sympathies." his opponent responded, "However, I'm afraid that I don't really have any reason to do that. Dark Shadow and I are on something of a winning streak at the moment."

" **Yeah! If anything,** _ **you**_ **should be the one giving up, you know?"**

"You're probably right. Under ordinary circumstances, I might do that." Denki yawned again, doing his best to stare the bird-man down with half-lidded eyes, "But, with things the way they are, I can't do that right now. It's just not an option. I promised someone I'd make it to the finals, you see, and that's just one match away. It'd be one thing if I choked in the second round or something, but after I've come this far?" Denki let out an odd combination of a chuckle and a sigh of resignation, "I dunno. I guess I'm just too tired to quit. So, come on; let's do this before I pass out in the ring, yeah?"

"Tokoyami, are you ready?" Midnight began her pre-match ritual.

" **Of course, he is!"**

"Kaminari, are you ready?"

"No… ***yawn*** …yeah." Midnight cocked an eyebrow at him before shrugging.

"First match of the semifinals: Fumikage Tokoyami versus Denki Kaminari! Take your stances…and begin!"

Dark Shadow shot forwards, clearly intending to take Denki out quickly.

 _A mercy kill? Or is he just trying to save his energy for the finals? Either way, I can't make it that easy on him._

Denki cocked his good arm back, discharging as much electricity as he dared over himself while trying to focus it in his fist.

 _I don't have enough left in the tank for anything fancy. Guess I just need to clock the essentially-invincible mass of darkness and hope for the best._

… _Yeah, that sounds about as stupid as I thought it would._

The move that Denki performed was nothing special. He shifted his right leg forward, rotated his hips, twisted his torso and sent his fist flying directly at Dark Shadow's head. It was a simple right hook and highly-telegraphed due to his fatigue and poor starting position.

 ***THWACK***

He felt his fist make contact with the strangely-textured skin of Dark Shadow. That meant that it would only be a fraction of a second before he would be bowled over or knocked out of the ring.

 _At least I gave it everything I could…even if I ended up losing._

But the impact never came. Denki became aware of Dark Shadow recoiling like a startled animal and glaring at him while Tokoyami gave an unsurprised grimace.

"Wait…what?"

Denki vaguely remembered something about Dark Shadow becoming stronger the less light there was, which was why Tokoyami had killed the lights during the Battle Trial against Iida.

"You can't be serious…"

Logically, that meant that the opposite would also be true. You didn't have to be a genius to understand that a place couldn't be bright and dark at the same time.

"Did I seriously luck out that hard?"

Denki trudged forwards towards his opponent who was, no doubt about it, edging away from him.

"Hey…what gives?" Dark Shadow came at him again, but again he swatted the sentient Quirk away with his electricity.

" **Nngh! Stop it! I don't like that!"**

"Oh yeah? My bad." Denki turned off his Quirk, pretending to indulge his opponent. Dark Shadow took the bait almost immediately and came at him again, only to be met with an open palm.

"Taser Flash!"

" **ACK!"**

The bird came away noticeably smaller than before and retreated again as Denki resumed his slow movements towards his opponent.

"You can retreat if you want…but there's only so much ring. Sooner or later, I'll catch up to you."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Tenya Iida was engrossed in the ongoing match along with more than a few of his classmates. After having verified that Midoriya and Todoroki would be alright, he had elected to return to the stands along with Shoji, Kirishima, Ashido and Jiro. The current spectacle was certainly making him feel vindicated in regards to this decision.

"He's…holy crap!"

Apparently, Kirishima was having similar sentiments. Ashido was wearing a satisfied expression as well for some unknown reason.

"This is just…I mean, he can't even _touch_ him!" the redhead gawked.

"Yes." Shoji concurred, "In fact, were it not for how much he struggled against you, Kirishima-san, I believe this match would have already ended."

"Yeah…" Kirishima looked as though his brain was working overtime to process the situation, "He's picking someone like Tokoyami apart while he's barely standing."

"And you almost beat him while he was at full strength." Ashido shook his shoulder lightly, "I wonder what that says about you, huh?"

In that moment, the situation clicked for Tenya.

"Yes, indeed! There is no shame in losing to such an opponent, I should think!" he hastily added.

"Heh." Kirishima gave a wistful smile as he watched Kaminari steadily box his opponent into a corner with his unrelenting, unbreakable approach, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish it was me down there, but…I guess I can accept a loss to someone as manly that. Hell, I probably couldn't beat Tokoyami and Dark Shadow even if I had the chance. Looks like I would've broken my promise anyway."

He was clearly feeling better, but even so, Tenya saw Ashido frown slightly at that last remark. Before he had the chance to ponder it too closely, his entire body started to vibrate.

"Ack! Iida-san, what gives?!" Sero, who was sitting on Tenya's other side, flinched away, looking at him in bewilderment.

"Do-o no-ot wo-orry. It's my pho-one." Tenya fished the vibrating device out of his pocket and excused himself from the stands upon seeing that it was his mother.

"Hello, Mother. I apologize if my loss has disappointed you."

" _No, Tenya. That…that's not what this is about."_ her voice sounded like she was doing everything she could to keep her tone even, which immediately caused Tenya to experience a feeling of trepidation.

" _Please, Tenya, stay calm and listen to me. It's…it's your brother. Tensei…a Villain got Tensei!"_

"Wh…what?" Tenya had half-expected her to say any number of things when he had realized what sort of call this must have been. His theories had varied from this to that, but nowhere on that list had he expected something like _this_.

" _He was in Hosu when it happened. I…I'm not going to lie to you, Tenya: it's bad. If that young man hadn't been there, then…"_

"Mother. Where is Tensei now?" even to himself, Tenya's voice sounded curiously monotone, as though all emotion had drained from him. He knew that this wasn't the case: he could still feel the fear, the anxiety, the absolute, stomach-churning _dread_ of the situation, but there was one overriding priority: he needed to see Tensei for himself. He needed to know how bad it really was and if, by chance, the worst were to happen…

…he needed to be there. That was all there was to it.

" _I'll text you the address."_

"Thank you. I'll depart immediately."

He needed to change and then make a beeline for the nearest train. He should also take the time to tell someone where he was going so as not to cause a panic. With those goals in mind, Tenya turned back to the stands, only to find Shoji already walking towards him.

"Forgive my intrusion. I did not listen to everything you said, but the sudden change in your tone caught my attention."

Ordinarily, Tenya might have said something to the tune of "regardless of your intentions, eavesdropping should not be encouraged, Shoji-san," but with the situation as it was, the most efficient route was all that mattered.

"I need to leave ahead of schedule. My brother was attacked by a Villain and is currently in urgent care."

Shoji's eyes widened in surprise over his mask for a moment before his expression became grim and purposeful.

"I understand. I will tell the others where you have gone. Make haste and take my best wishes with you."

Though he knew it was rude, Tenya did not spare the time to thank his friend properly. Instead, he gave him a nod of appreciation and dashed off towards the locker room. He would apologize properly later, when there was time.

 _Tensei…please be alright!_

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"You've got nowhere left to run, Tokoyami." Denki panted as he loomed, kneeling, over his grounded opponent, palm crackling with energy, "You almost got away before, but that won't work on me again. I could lay you out for good, but I really don't want to burn off more energy than I have to, so what do you say?"

Truly, his opponent had given him a run for his money. He had seen that Denki was barely able to move in his current state and had intended to burn him out with a battle of attrition. When Denki had seen that Tokoyami was trying to make a break for it, he had been momentarily distracted by Dark Shadow, leaving him with no choice but to let loose with a sizeable burst of electricity to hinder his opponent enough that he could box him in again and while Denki did indeed have another one of those in him, he really, _really_ didn't want to use it if he didn't have to.

Tokoyami was obviously aware of his condition as he gave a defiant glare of the sort that only birds of prey are capable of.

"I could force your hand. Make it so that you have no chance of participating in the finals."

"Yeah." Denki nodded in agreement, "Or, hear me out, you could _not_ do that."

Tokoyami gave an uncharacteristic chuckle.

"You make a compelling argument, Class President." he gave a sympathetic glance towards the nearby Dark Shadow, who was currently so weakened that he couldn't even generate arms, "And…I suppose that Dark Shadow has taken enough punishment for one day."

" **Thanks for noticing me…"**

"Alright." Tokoyami said in a louder voice so that Midnight could hear him clearly, "I surrender."

"By means of surrender, the winner of the first semifinal match is Denki Kaminari!" Midnight announced.

Denki sagged backwards on his knees and let his Quirk dissipate, sighing in relief as a wave of applause broke over him.

" _You heard the lady, Listeners!"_ Present Mic's voice boomed over the stadium once more, _"We officially have our first finalist: none other than the apparently-unstoppable Denki Kaminari! If he hasn't proven why he deserves to be in charge today, then I'll leave this booth right now!"_

" _You think you could do that anyway? Just for the hell of it?"_ the long-suffering Aizawa prodded, prompting Denki to think that, just maybe, he now felt as tired as his homeroom teacher always looked.

"I did it…I really…" he staggered to his feet and looked to the stands where he knew his classmates would be. He frowned slightly as he realized that over a quarter of his classmates were still missing, "Damned if this competition didn't take its toll on everyone, huh? I should probably get myself back up there…which means more stairs. Damn it."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Deku-kun, what are you talking about?! You need to stay in bed!"

"Seriously, did you cook your brain fighting Half-and-Half or something?"

Izuku Midoriya was experiencing that bizarre combination of feeling simultaneously touched and exasperated at the concern that his friends were showing for him.

"If you would just let me explain-"

"Deku, I get it. You feel like you need to see this through because it's a big chance and everything, but this is just stupid!" Kacchan was massaging his temples in irritation with Ochako nodding vehemently next to him.

"Um," Hagakure piped up from next to Todoroki's bed, "I know I don't really have a stake in this, but for what it's worth, I agree with them, Midori. You should probably be taking it easy right now."

Izuku let out an annoyed sigh and would have facepalmed if he was capable of normal hand movement.

"I hear what you're all saying, but I'm telling you-"

"Deku-kun!" Ochako started on him again before she was cut off by an unexpected voice.

"For crying out loud, just listen to what he has to say so I don't have to hear you all arguing anymore. It's giving me a headache."

"Todo? You're awake?!"

All heads turned to face Todoroki's bed to reveal that, indeed, there was a mismatched pair of eyes giving them all a half-hearted glare of tired irritation.

"Yeah. I've been awake for a while now, but I pretended to be asleep because I don't feel like dealing with people at the moment, but it was either this or listen to you all go around in circles until it drove me insane."

"Thank you, Todoroki-san." Izuku nodded to the two-tone boy before turning back to Kacchan and Ochako, "What I've been _trying_ to explain is that I know I'm in no condition to fight and I don't _intend_ to fight. I just want to at least show my face in the ring so that I can formally surrender. I know that neither one of you is deaf; you know that there's more than a few people in the audience that recognize us from that recording of the Battle Trials. I'm sure that Kacchan and I aren't the only ones who are disappointed by how this has all turned out."

Kacchan's expression tightened as he gave a nod of agreement.

"I feel like, as long as I'm able, I at least owe those people an explanation. As crazy as it is to think, we have _fans_ now, you guys. It's important that we maintain a good relationship with them whenever possible. That's why I need to go out there. Not to fight, just to show everyone that I'm okay and bow out with as much dignity as possible."

There was a moment of silence as the room digested what Izuku had told them.

"Well, we need to do something about your clothes." Ochako stated matter-of-factly.

"My clothes? What about them?"

"Apart from the fact that, well, you're not exactly wearing very many at the moment?" she was slightly pink in the face by the time she finished, prompting Izuku to look down at himself. Indeed, all that was preserving his modesty was the heavily-charred remains of his pants.

"She's got a point, Midori." Tooru chimed in, "As much as I'm sure some of your female fans might appreciate the spectacle, the burns and bandages kinda…detract from the overall effect, you know?"

"The girls have a point. Your 'show them I'm fine' plan loses some of its impact when you look like you got run over by a flaming truck."

"Rubbing it in a bit, Todo?"

"Most of that isn't my fault."

"Well, I guess you're not wrong…"

"Come on, Deku." Kacchan helped him stand up, "Let's get you looking halfway decent before they call us out there. Your uniform is still in the locker room, right?"

"Ah, yeah. I think so."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku was initially embarrassed that he had to ask Kacchan for his help with something as simple as dressing himself, but the other boy waved it off and explained that he would be able to do it himself starting later that day, but Recovery Girl had recommended that he not remove the bandages until he had no other choice.

" _Shit, Deku." Kacchan said as he tried to figure out how to get a shirt on his injured friend before simply giving up and draping his jacket over him like a cape, fastening the top button to keep it in place, "I know I noticed that you'd been working out before, but this is the first time I've actually seen the results firsthand. This explains how you've been able to keep yourself together, even with that crazy power you've been throwing around. Of course, looks aren't everything, but still…"_

Now that Izuku thought about it, the only ones who had actually seen his physique since his training with All Might had been the legend himself, his mother and Recovery Girl. Being how he was, Izuku had never really thought to bring it up or show off to anyone, but if even Kacchan was impressed by it…

 _Thinking about stripping for your girlfriend?_

 _Of course not! I was just wondering what she might think. I mean, I know I'm not the best-looking guy around, so…_

"Oi, Deku, quit zoning out on me. We're almost there."

"Ah, sorry, Kacchan."

"Don't call me 'Kacchan.'"

"Don't call _me_ , 'Deku.'"

"Fuck you, I'll call you what I want."

"Fair enough; same here, then."

" _Alright, Listeners! I think it's about time that we welcomed the combatants for the second match of the semifinals! Let's start with-eh? Well, would you look at that! They're coming out at the same time! I wonder what might be about to take place?"_

Izuku and Kacchan advanced side-by-side towards the arena with Kacchan keeping an eye on him in case he stumbled. Eventually they reached the center of the ring where Midnight stood. She seemed perplexed that they were making a beeline directly for her.

"Midnight-sensei, could I ask you to let us borrow your microphone?" Izuku requested.

"That's a bit unusual, but can I assume that this has something to do with your…current state, Midoriya-kun?"

"It does. Could I trouble you to hold it for me?" he indicated his heavily-bandaged arms, still resting in their sling.

Midnight agreed and held the mic out to Izuku.

" _What's this, Listeners?! It looks like we're going to have a mic performance from the semifinalists! I wonder what they have to say?"_

Izuku took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and then began.

"I'd like to start by thanking everyone who has cheered for me and my classmates so far. You're all great people and that's part of why I wanted to come out and say this in-person."

This got him some scattered applause from the audience.

"I know how this might sound, so I'm going to preface it by saying that both myself and Todoroki-san are going to be just fine. Having said that, I think it's fairly obvious just from looking at me that I'm not in any condition to fight another match right now, especially when you consider who my next opponent is supposed to be."

At this, he indicated Kacchan and heard a few noises of recognition from the stands.

"Those of you who recognize us from a certain HeroTube video probably know that neither of us was entirely satisfied with how our last fight ended. We both want this rematch, but I for one don't want it to go like this. I want it to be a match where we can both give our all and have no regrets after it's over. It is for these reasons that I am choosing to withdraw from this competition and allow Katsuki Bakugo to move forward unchallenged." on a whim, he added at the end, "Plus, if I went ahead with this match anyway, Recovery Girl would probably kill me."

This got a few laughs from the crowd and Izuku was more or less satisfied with how he had delivered his message. He blinked as Kacchan motioned to Midnight and took the mic for himself.

"I agree with what Deku's saying. As much of a disappointment as it is to have the chance of settling things on a stage like this one, only to have to give it up at the last moment, I think the disappointment of fighting a half-assed match and achieving a meaningless victory would suck even more. Not that it matters now that he's officially thrown in the towel, but I'd like to go on record saying that I accept his surrender, given the circumstances. Don't make the mistake of thinking this is over, though! I'll kick his ass good when we have the chance to fight for real!"

This declaration garnered cheers from what sounded like a different portion of the crowd and Izuku realized that Kacchan had, intentionally or not, managed to appeal to a different demographic.

" _You heard 'em, Listeners! Izuku Midoriya has formally surrendered the second semifinal match to Katsuki Bakugo, who has officially accepted. Speaking from experience, it takes a big man to step up and admit when he's had enough, especially in a heavily-anticipated match between rivals like this one. Let's have some applause, yeah?!"_

The crowd applauded politely, with some onlookers giving encouraging or conciliatory shouts.

"Ohh~ Such a display of youthful honor and comradery~"

"Come on, lets get out of here before Midnight pounces on one of us." Kacchan turned Izuku around and half-shoved him off of the stage.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Tenya Iida charged through the halls of Hosu General Hospital until he neared the room that his mother had indicated to him. She was sitting on a bench across from the door with a slim young man leaning with crossed arms against the wall next to the door.

"Tenya!" his mother noticed him almost immediately and ran to embrace him.

"Mother, I want to see him."

"Not yet." instead of his mother, the young man next to the door answered him, his tone even, "They've nearly finished working on him, but he's still unconscious and hasn't been cleared to receive visitors. Plus…it was close. It still _is_ close. They said that if he had gotten here even a minute later, then there would have been nearly a zero-percent chance of him pulling through. You'll understand, then, if I insist on following the doctor's orders to the letter."

"Tenya, dear," his mother indicated the young man, anticipating at least one of her son's questions, "this is Yari-kun. He's the one I told you about on the phone."

"I see." Tenya composed himself as best he could, "You are the one who found my brother and brought him to the hospital?"

"'Found' isn't quite right, since I was there when it happened. Allow me to introduce myself properly." Yari stepped away from the wall and bowed to Tenya, "Kushi Yari, though in the field I go by 'Spike.' I've been working under Ingenium for a short time, but he's already done a lot for me and my family. Please accept my condolences."

"Spike." Tenya purposefully used what he assumed was the man's Hero Name, "You say that you were there when my elder brother was injured, correct?" Spike nodded, "I would like to ask you to recount the events as best you can. This should give us something to pass the time as well as to prepare us for…whatever it is that has happened to Tensei."

"Tenya, I'm not sure if this is a good time for that. After all, I'm sure it was a stressful experience for Yari-kun as well. Surely this can wait for his official report?"

"No, it's fine." Spike gave Tenya a level stare, "I believe that your son deserves to hear this directly from me, rather than from a potentially-doctored report, if it's all the same to you, ma'am."

Mrs. Iida appeared torn between agreeing with Spike and wanting to shield her son as best she could. After a moment of indecision, she relented and sat back down.

"You may as well hear this now, Tenya. Truth be told, I don't know all of the details myself yet, but if you become a Pro Hero, you'll hear and see worse than this before long. I suppose there's no harm in getting your toes wet, so to speak."

This was one aspect of his mother's personality that Tenya had always admired: a formidable level of self-control that allowed her to switch between doting mother and Pro Hero at the drop of a hat. Though she had chosen to more or less devote her time to parenting when she had children, there were some things that never truly left her.

"Thank you, Mother." Tenya said before giving the entirety of his attention to Spike.

"Alright. I only showed up at the tail-end of the fight, so I can't tell you what happened up until then and part of this might be guesswork, but I'll give you everything I've got."

* * *

 **I did originally intend to have the conclusion of the Ingenium vs Stain fight (via Spike's retelling) included at the end of this chapter, but throughout writing this I was about as mentally tired as Denki, so if I seemed to channel him well, that's why XD**

 **So, uncharacteristically for me, I have managed to cliffhanger more or less the same thing two chapters in a row. I usually don't like when people do that, so I apologize. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out otherwise. Let me know what you think as usual!**

 **Also, does anyone have any idea what the names of any of the Iidas are apart from Tenya and Tensei? I don't think they've been canonically named either in MHA or in Illegals/Vigilantes. I suppose if I end up being forced to name them I can just use the formula of Ten+w/e, but I'm honestly curious.**

 **See you all next time and as always, thank you for reading!**


	45. Chapter 43: A Victory Well-Earned

**Originally I wanted this to be a longer chapter and cover everything up to and including the aftermath of the Sports Festival. That didn't quite happen, but I still ended up being able to deliver everything I promised last time, so I'm not too bummed. Also, contest results will be in the post-chapter author notes, so make sure you read those!  
**

 **Review Time:**

 **Komodo23 : I'm glad that you've enjoyed the Sports Festival as a whole. I enjoyed writing it too, but I'm also kinda glad it's over since that means we can get on with the next part! Thanks for the feedback on the Iida names as well. I thought it would follow the method simply because of their name "Team Idaten," but by no means is that set in stone.  
**

 **Constipated Genius : Welcome aboard and thank you so much for all the reviews! I always enjoy seeing people's reactions as they read through the story, so they were truly a joy to read. Obviously I can't respond to all of them properly since it would take up so much space here, but I wanted to give you a shout-out so you know how much I enjoyed them. I hope to see you as one of my regulars!**

 **Mukuro Kaze : I am simultaneously sorry for distracting you from your own writing and happy that you enjoy mine so much. Calling it one of the best on the site is high praise and I hope to live up to it. It's come such a long way now that I'm looking back on it as Torchbearer is about to see its first birthday and I'm excited to see where it goes next.**

 **ThundahV : Welcome aboard! It's great to know that I'm attracting new readers and that a surprising number are enjoying this enough to actually get through it all in one sitting! I hope you enjoy future chapters just as much!**

 **Reverseflash : I knew that having Tokoyami get stomped could be a polarizing decision and I'm grateful that you are able to understand my decision even if you don't love it. He will have his chance to show of how powerful he is though, no worries. Denki, as with everyone else, will certainly develop his Quirk both in terms of power and technique as things progress. As for Ochako's parents visiting, well...that'd be spoilers.**

 **inFamousSlyMonkey : It's funny that you ask about Iai's inspiration. In terms of visuals, I just keep imagining some odd combination of Shoot McMahon and Shunsui Kyoraku.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Yeah, for lucking out so hard, Denki's sure paying for it. I blame Kirishima for being so hardcore. Yeah, the "A Villain got [whoever]" would be a really bad call to get, especially for a family with a Hero legacy who have seen this kind of thing before. As for Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, I'm not totally sure. I've for sure established that they can share thoughts and, by extension, emotions, but as for physical pain I'm not sure. Either way he has ways of knowing when it's time to tap out.**

 **I'm not 100% sure if Tenya's mom has Engine or not. In the brief shot we get of the Team Idaten logo in canon, one of the Ingeniums is clearly female, so it's possible. It's never outright stated if it's his mom or his dad that was born an Iida. I'm inclined to think that it's not his mom though, since the female Ingenium has noticeably long hair and in the brief shot of Tenya's mom in the manga her hair looks short. She might have just gotten it cut though.**

 **Uraharaisgod : As far as I'm aware, Plus Ultra is just the official motto of U.A. The first time we see it is actually when Present Mic is briefing the U.A. applicants before the practical portion of the entrance exam in Chapter 3 of the manga.**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r, Mrguy22594, Slayer76, Tonlor, uchihaNaruto247, The Keeper of Worlds, Ezylryb, FuryJoe, Corruption of Saints, King Kyusharu, Ooobserver, Deepthoughts42, HyperNinja203 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now it's time to wrap up this tournament! But first, Spike would like to tell you a story.**

* * *

Chapter Forty-Three: A Victory Well-Earned

Like I said before, I wasn't there for the majority of the fight, so I can only speculate as to what actually happened. Even so, the audio that I picked up through the comms was more than enough to tell me that things were going very, very wrong.

Ingenium, that is, Tensei-san, realized this first and took off, leaving me to catch up. Ordinarily, I would have believed that he could handle whatever it was without issue, but something in my gut told me not to waste any time. That's the only reason why I arrived in time to see what would have been the end of it.

I saw Ingenium and the Hero Killer facing off, both clearly injured and worn down. As I raced down the alleyway towards them, I saw Ingenium unleash what must have been his final, desperate move. Honestly, if I hadn't been looking already, I might have missed it.

Tensei-san told me once that, when he's moving exceptionally quickly, sometimes time seems to slow down or even stand still for him as his senses heighten in an attempt to keep up with the rest of his body. I don't know how or why, but in that moment, I could see everything in much the same way.

Because of this, I saw that the Hero Killer wasn't just standing still or trying to frantically avoid the attack. He was moving deliberately, self-assuredly. He dropped to one knee and braced the back of his sword against his forehead. He was directly in Ingenium's path, so it didn't take much imagination to figure out what the likely result of running straight into that sword would be, especially when it was being braced by such a powerful individual.

I knew, in that moment, that Tensei-san was going to die. My arm moved before I was fully conscious of the fact. My mouth opened without me willing it. My legs pumped harder than they ever had before. Every muscle in my body cried out with the concerted effort of doing anything and everything I could to impact the situation, even just a little.

"SPIKE SHOT!"

The training methods of Team Idaten are actually fairly orthodox if you strip away all the bells and whistles: you figure out what sort of technique would most improve your overall performance as a member of the team and you focus solely on that until you've perfected it to the point where you can use it at a moment's notice.

While I was going through my initial evaluation and showed that the spikes that I extrude from my body could be detached and regrown, the suggestion was made that I see if I could use that to come up with some sort of ranged attack, since melee fighters are always inherently at-risk against certain types of Quirks and it would increase my overall versatility. It sounded like a good place to start, so I agreed.

Honestly, I didn't think that it was going especially well. I only had about two weeks of time to work on it and my range was somewhat limited, with my accuracy being just over fifty percent on average. It was progress, yes, but it wasn't ready for field use yet.

So, when I threw a spike at the Hero-Killer's head, I shouted at the top of my lungs. Maybe I thought that would give me some extra "oomph." Maybe I thought that if I startled him, he would fumble his counterattack. Maybe I was just desperate and doing anything I could think of.

Whatever the case, my aim was true and Stain was forced to lean forwards to avoid the spike. Since the sword was braced against his forehead, this also caused it to dip a couple inches or so.

At the time, I honestly thought that Tensei-san was dead anyway. His momentum colliding with the edge of that blade generated enough force for it to tear into his torso, armor be damned. I watched it cleave into him at a sharp angle, redirecting enough of the force that the Hero Killer was knocked to the side and Tensei-san was launched into a nearby wall. Fortunately, he impacted back-first instead of head-first and slid down onto his side.

By the time Stain had gotten to his feet, I had reached the pair of them and was trying to figure out a way to get Tensei-san out of there without getting my head chopped off. I was able to reach Tensei-san, since for whatever reason the Hero-Killer didn't seem inclined to immediately attack me. Most likely, he was being cautious since he didn't know what I could do.

"Another one of Ingenium's Sidekicks, I presume?"

"Something like that."

It hadn't really registered that he had spoken to me, or that I had responded. I was busy trying to assess the severity of Tensei-san's wound. It was bleeding terribly and he was clearly unconscious, but he still had a strong pulse.

"I don't know you. That means you're either new or too low on the totem pole to bother with. After the kind of day I've had, I'm willing to let you go if you leave now."

"Your first guess is right. I'm all for taking you up on your offer, but Ingenium leaves with me."

"I don't think you need me to tell you that that's not happening."

"Why? You don't always kill your victims."

"He's too dangerous for me to take any risks. I've come too far in this bid to believe that he'll just leave me alone."

He rolled his neck and pointed his sword at me.

"I'm giving you one more chance to live. Leave, _now_."

I picked Tensei-san up and stood to face the Hero Killer.

"You're willing to risk everything for a man who may as well be dead anyway?"

It was probably the adrenaline, but I was able to keep my voice mostly steady.

"I owe Ingenium everything. It's not an exaggeration to call it the sort of debt that can never be repaid. My life is a non-issue here; it belongs to him already."

"And what will you do if I decide I'm not going to let you leave?"

"I'll kill you."

It wasn't what I was going to say, but after I had said it, I knew that it was the truth.

"That's not a very Heroic thing to say, Sidekick. Fresh off the vine and you've already been corrupted."

"Actually, it's the opposite." I stared at him, willing him to understand that I was speaking the truth, "I've had my fill of violence and intimidation and my orders are to help capture you, but make no mistake, Stain: I'm no Hero. If you refuse to back down, it doesn't matter if it costs me my life or not; I will _end_ you."

He stared at me curiously, clearly not having expected that. I pushed whatever edge I may have gained.

"You do realize that none of them were actively trying to kill you, right? None of Team Idaten, at any rate. Say what you will about them, but they're good people. They'll play by the rules unless they have absolutely no other choice. They're upstanding, loyal citizens who just want to make the world a safer place."

"You speak as though you aren't one of them."

"I'm not."

At this point I was just talking, saying whatever came to mind if it would help my chances of saving Tensei-san. Since I've never been a good liar, that meant the truth. The real truth. The sort of truth that I hadn't bothered to consider while I was busy being grateful and doing my best not to waste my second chance.

"If I'm being honest, I don't have any real loyalty to Team Idaten and I don't have some hidden reserve of righteousness that compels me to do good and help others. I don't care about justice for the masses; the only ones who matter to me are myself and those close to me. But I owe Ingenium everything. I will do as he has me do and, if it means preserving his life, there is no act that is beneath me."

At this point, I managed a grimace.

"And I think we can both agree that there are _far_ worse things I could do than rid the world of a murdering psychopath. My life for yours and his? Nobody would blink twice."

Our eyes bored into each other.

"I'm going to leave now, Stain. If you're prepared to die in order to stop me, then by all means try. Just know that I'm _more_ than prepared to give my life for this, so if you have any doubts whatsoever, then fuck off to whatever hole in the wall you crawled out of and patch yourself up. Or curl up and die. I honestly don't care which as long as you understand that Tensei Iida is off-limits."

I turned and started walking away, praying with every fiber of my being that he would listen. Or at least hesitate long enough for me to hail the rescue chopper that would be inbound to our position, assuming that the others had done their jobs.

"One thing."

I nearly had a heart attack when he spoke again from behind me.

"What's your name?"

"Spike."

"Spike. You are one of the more unusual cases I've dealt with and your resolve to assist another, regardless of the risk to yourself, is commendable, so I will withhold your judgement for the time being. That you hold no illusions about being a proper Hero is somewhat refreshing, but you could very easily end up following the wrong path. If that day comes, then know that I will be there to deliver your punishment."

I didn't turn back, so I don't know exactly when he left or where he went. I just kept going until I reached the chopper and we brought Tensei-san to this hospital as quickly as possible. They took him into surgery and, well…I suppose you know the rest.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Oh, come _on_! This barely gives the doofus any time to recover! In what world is this fair, huh?!"

Kyoka Jiro, by virtue of still not being able to hear, had taken a few extra moments to figure out that what, judging by how their _last_ fight had gone, _should_ have been a knock-down drag-out slugfest and general crowd-pleaser had instead ended rather abruptly with Midoriya's apparent surrender.

Now, Kyoka didn't hold it against anyone per-se. It was obvious just by looking at the poor guy that he had been worked over pretty good already from whatever had happened during his fight with Todoroki (which she _really_ needed to watch at her first opportunity) and was in absolutely no condition to throw a punch, let alone engage in a show like that. The source of her irritation was that the second semifinal match was supposed to do two very important things.

First, even if Bakugo would probably win against nearly anyone that got thrown in the ring with him, the match would at least wear him down a little or, if they were lucky, a lot.

Second, while the Class Prez was definitely starting to recover, thanks in no small part to how smoothly his own semifinal match had gone, he was still a long way from one-hundred percent. Kyoka wasn't naïve enough to think that any match would last long enough to allow him to recover fully (everyone had to deal with back-to-back performances at some point in their life, after all), but she had at _least_ hoped that he would have an extra few minutes.

As it was, as surprisingly loathe as she was to say it, it really didn't seem like Class 1-A's front man had a chance. He knew it too. He _had_ to. Yet, there he was, pushing himself up off his chair with a grimace and what was probably a tired sigh, ready to head back down into what would most likely end up being an explosion-fueled meat grinder.

"Hey, Prez?" Kyoka had stood up and walked briskly to stand in front of him. Since she couldn't hear, she waited until she was fairly sure he had acknowledged her before continuing, "Why not just give up?"

He gave her a look that was confused, surprised and…hurt?

"I mean," she explained, "you've pretty obviously had it. You rocked out hard during your first two matches and you managed to win the third one _somehow_ , but what's the point of going back down there? Against _Bakugo_ of all people?"

She wasn't getting through. She could already tell. His yellow eyes were looking at her, but not really seeing her. He gave a small smile that was a beaten-down parody of his usual grin and said something that was probably some variant of "It'll be fine" or "Don't worry about me" or some other typical male-ego garbage before he moved to walk around her.

"Listen to me!" Kyoka reached out and seized the front of his track uniform, forcing him to turn back around, "I'm trying to say that you've done enough! You've already come way further in this thing than anyone thought you would. Hell, even boy-wonders like Todoroki didn't make it as far as you did. So why do you need to go back down there? I…" her tirade came to an abrupt halt as she found herself lost for words, "I just don't get it. Why are you doing this? This isn't like you. You're the easygoing goofball that nobody in their right mind would ever imagine as a class rep, but who manages to pull it off anyway. You're not battle-hungry like Bakugo, you don't have a chip on your shoulder like Todoroki, you're not some sort of bulldozer like Tokoyami and hell if I understand what exactly is up with Midoriya sometimes, but you're not like him either."

Her arms fell back to her sides and she made a gesture of resignation.

"So…why?"

He didn't say anything for a few moments. It felt like longer.

Then the hand that wasn't currently attached to the arm that was in a sling found its way onto her shoulder. He said something, lips barely moving, before squeezing her shoulder and flashing her that paradoxical grin that somehow managed to be dopey at some points and reassuring, even cool, at others.

Then he turned around and was gone.

Kyoka stared at where he had been for what felt like a long while before sitting back down next to Mina and receiving what felt like a conciliatory pat on the back. No doubt she was saying something that sounded like womanly wisdom but might just as well have been her gut talking.

 _Man,_ Kyoka thought, _I'm gonna have to ask_ so _many questions about what people said later, but there's no way I'll be able to remember them all._

 _And now I've gotta watch Denki get thrashed._

… _This sucks._

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was slightly bemused.

To say that the tournament hadn't gone anything like he thought it would was an understatement, but to have the freaking Lightning President as his opponent in the finals? That took the cake, ate it and went back for seconds.

It wasn't that Katsuki honestly thought that the other boy was weak, not in the grand scheme of things, anyway, but whatever else he might have been, he wasn't cut from the same cloth as the other big players that he'd seen today.

Shoji, Kirishima, Birdman, Metalhead, Iida, Yaoyorozu, Half-and-Half, Deku (and wasn't _that_ a kick in the teeth?), Ojiro, hell, even Uraraka had taken him by surprise. The Prez didn't catch his eye in the same way as the others did. He didn't have the training that Ojiro and Yaoyorozu did, the combat instincts that he or Kirishima did, or the raw power that Half-and-Half or Deku did.

But somehow he just kept winning.

Part of it was luck. Katsuki knew that just as well as anyone who had actually been paying attention did. He zapped himself out of Brainwashing, just so happened to be able to circumvent Hardening and proved to be a hard counter to Dark Shadow.

Luck wasn't all of it, though. Kirishima could hit like a truck and he had landed more than one solid hit. From Fight Club Katsuki knew that, while the Prez's tolerance for punishment wasn't _bad_ exactly, it sure as hell wasn't top-tier either. He was in rare form today and if Katsuki had needed any _more_ convincing, the fight with Birdman had given it to him. There was almost certainly something else going on.

Not that he particularly cared. At least, not about the reasoning behind it. No, the point that mattered to Katsuki at that moment was that, for _some_ reason, Denki Kaminari had become someone that he couldn't afford to underestimate.

 _Fine by me. That just means that I'll have to take him out and be done with it._

"Alright, you two," Midnight began her pre-fight announcements now that both of them had entered the ring, "this is it. The final round. At this point, worst-case scenario for either of you is still the silver medal. Win or lose, I don't think anyone can argue that both of you have really shown your stuff today. Anything you'd like to say before we wrap this thing up?"

Since he had just finished dealing with a mic performance several minutes ago and didn't really feel like dragging things out, Katsuki declined. He would follow-through on his promise to be number one and that would be that.

"Actually, yeah. I'd like to say something, if I could."

Apparently Kaminari had his own agenda. Midnight handed him the microphone and he seemed to scan the stands for a moment before speaking.

"We all heard what Midnight-Sensei just said, but I need to set the record straight; I didn't make it this far on my own. I had help and plenty of it. Oh," he quickly clarified, "nothing illegal or anything like that, don't worry."

There were some scattered laughs from the audience.

"No, what I'm talking about is actually from the second event. My team placed second overall thanks in no small part to someone who should have been able to participate in this tournament with the rest of us. I'm talking about Kyoka Jiro, the girl who effectively sacrificed herself and ended up unable to continue in order to ensure my team's victory. If she hadn't been there, then I could've been hit full-blast by that trap and I might be in the same position as she is right now. Believe me when I say that she deserves to be here just as much as I do."

There were sounds of appreciation and even some applause from the stands.

"There's someone else that deserves a mention too. More so in some ways, since he made it this far as someone who was placed, wrongfully, in my opinion, in General Studies. In fact, I nearly lost my first match to this guy. I'm not sure what it looked like from the outside, but it was close. I'm talking, of course, about Hitoshi Shinso."

There was more applause at this, from one section of the stands in particular.

"You hearing this up there in that box, Aizawa-Sensei?"

" _I hear you and I'll think about it. For now though, you should probably stop hamming it up and start the match."_

Katsuki internally agreed with this statement, but found that he wasn't as mad as he otherwise might have been. There was something different about Kaminari's expression as he handed the mic back to Midnight and squared off with him. He looked satisfied, like he had fulfilled some sort of obligation.

 _Is that it? Did he power through all of this just to get to_ this _point? Just to say_ those _things?_

"Get it all out of your system, Class Prez?"

"Heh." Kaminari chuckled and gave him a mischievous grin, "Yeah, I think so. Now I can go at it without worrying about what comes next!"

Katsuki found himself smirking at that.

"It's the finals, you dumbass; you should be doing that anyway!"

"Kaminari, are you ready?"

"Yep!"

"Bakugo, are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Final match of the third event: Denki Kaminari versus Katsuki Bakugo. Take your stances…and begin!"

" _Here we go, Listeners! It's all come down to this and after seeing them both come this far, I hardly know who to root for!"_

Katsuki dashed forwards, prompting Kaminari to throw up his electric armor.

 _Yeah, saw that one coming. For most close-range attackers, that shit's a real problem._

Katsuki didn't stop and he was rewarded with Kaminari's eyes widening in surprise.

 _Unfortunately for you, I'm_ not _most close-range attackers!_

* **BOOM** *

Katsuki's palm had stopped a few inches away from Kaminari and detonated with enough force to send him skidding along the concrete.

"I don't _need_ to touch you to hit you! Your shitty armor won't work against me!"

"Yeah…I can see that." Kaminari griped as he dragged himself to his feet, "Gotta say though, that didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. I guess your explosions aren't quite as strong from a distance, huh?"

"Compared to point-blank?" Katsuki shrugged, "Sure. Hell of a lot of good it'll do you though!"

* **BOOM** *

Kaminari rolled out of the way and attempted to sweep Katsuki's leg, which would have thrown him off-balance and zapped him if he hadn't seen it coming from a mile away and jumped over it.

* **BOOM** *

"Agh!"

His poor positioning caused Kaminari to bounce off the ground a little with that one before rolling to a stop and getting shakily to his feet.

"Come on," Katsuki frowned, "this is the fucking _finals_! Am I just going to keep smacking you around until I get bored or are you gonna put up a _fight_?!"

Kaminari gritted his teeth and the field of electricity expanded outwards until it rested about a foot away from his body.

That was actually a bit of an improvement. Now he'd have to amp up the power to get the same effect.

"HAH!"

* **BOOM** *

An explosion that was roughly twice the size of his usual ones sent Kaminari careening through the air, where he landed heavily, his electrical field having dissipated.

Katsuki idly shook his arm.

 _A few more of those and I might actually start to feel it. Good thing I've got two arms._

Kaminari was taking longer to get up this time. Clearly, the extra output had cost him. At this rate, he was just as likely to finish _himself_ off as Katsuki was, and that simply wouldn't do. Not for the finals. Not after he had promised to do this the _right_ way.

"Damn…this whole thing has really taken its toll on me, huh?"

Kaminari was clearly aware of his situation. How could he not be? He was barely able to stand up.

"I probably can't win…but I don't really feel like giving up either." he took a steadying breath and then grinned at Katsuki, "How about calling it a draw?"

Before Katsuki could respond, his opponent's Quirk crackled to life in violent arcs all over his body as he raised his hands skyward, gathering an immense amount of electrical energy.

"Indiscriminate Shock, One-Point-Five Million-"

* **POW** *

He was interrupted by a sprint-fueled haymaker to the face, which caused him to spin on his heels before dropping like a marionette with its strings cut.

" _OUCH! Listeners, something tells me that was every bit as nasty as it looked!"_

Midnight seemed to agree as she ran over to examine the fallen fighter.

 _Tch. Crazy bastard. I had to react so quickly that there wouldn't have been time to regulate the power of my explosions, so I had to deck him. Now I can't feel my fucking arm._

Midnight rose, bringing her microphone to her lips as she cracked her ever-present flogger.

"Denki Kaminari has been rendered unconscious and is unable to continue! The winner by knockout is Katsuki Bakugo!"

" _There you have it! The undisputed victor of the First-Year Division of the U.A. Sports Festival is none other than the blonde bomber himself: Katsuki Bakugo! Things were up and down a little bit for him in the first two events, but ever since the third started he's been a commanding force! A victory well-earned, Listeners!"_

* * *

 **Bang. Boom. Done. I enjoyed the Sports Festival, as I'm sure you can all tell, but I'm also excited to be moving on from it, as I'm sure most of you are too. Good stuff's on the horizon.**

 **Now, FINALLY, the results of the contest! For those of you who are not familiar with this, before the third event started I asked my reviewers to try and guess who the final four of the tournament would be and what their individual places would be, with the promise that the winner(s) would have the right to order me to write an Omake about damn near anything. I was fully prepared for their to be multiple people tied for first place, but we actually do have a clear winner!**

 **For starters, an honorable mention goes to lorenzde for getting all of the finalists correct, which is something that only four people managed to do. Good job.**

 **Tied for second place, we have a Guest and one of our long-time regulars, The 0bservanc3. Both of these individuals managed to not only guess all four of the finalists, but also guess that Tokoyami would be in third place while Kaminari would end up in second. They got the positions of Izuku and Bakugo swapped though.**

 **Our first place winner is *DRUM ROLL* CaedmonCousland! This reviewer not only got all four finalists correct, but accurately guessed how each fight would go up to the finals, accurately putting both Tokoyami and Izuku in third place. The only mistake was guessing that Denki would defeat Bakugo, but in spite of this, CaedmonCousland is the clear victor in my eyes.**

 **Congratulations sir/madam. To claim your prize, please PM me at your earliest convenience to verify that you are aware of your victory and would still like said prize. _If one month goes by and you have not contacted me then you will forfeit your prize to the second place winner, The 0bservanc3, so please don't forget._**

 **To every one who participated in the contest, thank you! I consider it to be quite the success and I will certainly have another at some point...once I figure out what the hell to have it be about.**

 **Next time we'll see the aftermath of the Sports Festival and the meeting between a certain pair of Villains that goes a little differently than in canon.**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**


	46. Chapter 44: It's Complicated

**We did it. Not only is the Sports Festival officially over as of this chapter, but Torchbearer has broken the 2,000 Follower mark! All I can say is thank you to all of you and I hope for your continued support!**

 **Review time:**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r : Without spoiling anything, I will say that the effects stemming from the Stain vs. Ingenium fight will be different than in canon, both where Tenya is involved and otherwise.**

 **Constipated Genius : Thanks again for catching that mis-naming. When I have call-backs to older events (which there will be a few of given how long the Sports Festival was for only a day of actual time) I plan to include a brief summary of them and not just go "remember that promise you made to me a couple days ago?" for sure. Kyoka will certainly be on Denki's case once she can hear properly again and I do have a plan for the first time Stain meets Tomura, which will be quite different than in canon.**

 **HyperNinja203 : Spike and Kirishima will definitely meet again at some point.**

 **Reverseflash : I'm glad that you enjoy my portrayal of Stain. I too know the disappointment of coming across a good story that is forever left unfinished because the author lost their spark and I do not intend to drop Torchbearer unless I have a very, VERY good reason for doing so. There may be the occasional missed post due to Real Life stuff (as we've previously had a couple of times) but I will do my best to maintain clear and open communication with my fans regarding such things, giving advance notice whenever possible.**

 **Corruption of Saints : The idea of a Last Resort as a sub-set of Super Moves that are designed to be last-ditch all-or-nothing techniques makes sense, to be sure. I certainly agree that when a student has a Quirk and/or Super Move that can be inherently dangerous to themselves and/or others, the teachers would definitely make time for some one-on-one coaching regarding such a thing. I probably won't use the terminology of Last Resort myself just for the sake of maintaining relative simplicity, but the idea behind them is a good one and don't let that stop you from using it in your own work.**

 **Batmarcus : It's great to know that you're enjoying this as much as canon! You can feel free to use ideas from my story in your own as long as you give credit where it's due. An example of this would be if you used an OC such as Spike or an original Quirk such as Flame Magnet. If you aren't sure or want some clarification, feel free to shoot me a PM.**

 **CrazyOtaku4Life : It is entirely possible for One For All to be transferred using anything that contains the holder's DNA as long as the holder wants it to be transferred. That could, logically speaking, include some sexual fluids, yes.**

 **Thy Squirrel : It's great to hear that you're enjoying things so far! I'm not sure if I've covered this topic before, but I do not currently intend to have a traitor. The stuff with Ochako has either been other characters picking up on her insecurities/inner conflict or me fleshing her out a little bit (i.e., the bad girl streak).**

 **The 0bservanc3 : First-Person isn't a perspective that I use very often, especially in this story, so it's understandable that it might catch someone off-guard. It's good to know that it served it's purpose though! The extent of Tensei's injuries will be revealed...relatively soon! I'm also glad that people are liking Spike's personality and worldview. He's not a Hero and he probably never will be, but he's a good guy to have on your side, for sure.**

 **The thing with Kyoka telling him to give up wasn't so much about her not having faith in him as it was just her trying to convince him not to (figuratively speaking) commit suicide-by-Bakugo for the sake of looking cool. She will certainly be impacted by the speech and whatever else she may learn, yes. I certainly intend to have another contest at some point once I figure out a good contest to have.**

 **61394, avidreaded, Tonlor, The Keeper of Worlds, HankFlamion18, beingwithu, Ooobserver, Eramis8, inFamousSlyMonkey, Guest, Solofknight, Obsessive Consumptive Reader, irishfan62, U Don't Know Me and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **I didn't originally plan for this to be another Todoroki chapter, but this is another Todoroki chapter. Good thing people seem to like those because I clearly do!**

* * *

Chapter Forty-Four: It's Complicated

Shoto Todoroki was doing some thinking. In and of itself, this was not unusual; he was practically the poster child for the "broody teenage boy" archetype and for good reason.

However, where his train of thought had previously led in a generally uniform direction in regards to his goals and how to obtain them, the day's events had added a split to the proverbial tracks. It was due in part to the need to have some hands-in-pockets empty hallway thinking time and partially due to the fact that he didn't want Hagakure bugging him for answers that he was neither ready nor inclined to give her that he had shooed her away towards the field where the awards ceremony would soon be taking place, giving the excuse that he "had something to take care of" but would be there shortly.

In reality, after verifying that she was indeed gone, Shoto had immediately turned around and headed in the exact opposite direction, intending to take the far entrance to the field instead of the closer one. He was, after all, still expected to be at the ceremony and was not so spiteful as to leave simply because he hadn't made the final four.

He just…needed a few minutes to himself.

"There you are, Shoto."

… _Or_ , he could deal with the old man. Just as good, really.

Not.

Shoto did not stop walking, since Endeavor was not standing directly in his path. He felt his eye twitch as his father fell into step beside him, clearly not picking up on the "leave me the hell alone" signals that he was sending.

Or maybe he just didn't care. Wouldn't be the first time.

"I saw your match."

"Good for you." Shoto might have usually been slightly less flippant, even if not by much, but he was just out of shits to give at the moment.

"I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Yeah? What changed?"

"Shoto." there was a note of warning in the man's voice now. Unsurprisingly, his patience wasn't infinite.

But then again, neither was Shoto's.

"If you've got something to say, _Endeavor_ , then say it." Shoto practically spat, "Is it something about how I lost? Something about how if I just used my flames sooner, I would've won? Something about how I lack training or discipline? Well?!"

"I wanted to ask you what changed."

"What?" Shoto found himself looking up at his father's face in spite of himself, completely caught off-guard by the question.

"Contrary to what you may think, Shoto, the show that you and the Midoriya boy put on was actually somewhat satisfactory. I would have _preferred_ that you won, of course, but in the end all that I wanted was for you to be pushed to the point where you would be forced to show what you were truly capable of." he crossed his arms, flame-wreathed blue gaze boring into his son, "I believe that to be a fairly accurate summary of what happened."

Shoto found that he could not disagree. Midoriya had definitely given him a lot more of a fight than he had bargained for, in more ways than one.

"So, given that I have no major complaints about the match itself, that leaves me with the question of what it was that finally made you see reason. What changed, Shoto?"

" _Do you understand the amount of blood, sweat and tears that goes into getting accepted into a place like this?"_

" _Do you realize what a slap in the face it is when someone like you says that not only is he going to be the best, but he's going to do it_ half-assed _?! Do you seriously think that any self-respecting Hero would just stand aside and_ give _you that?!"_

" _Congratulations, Shoto Todoroki: In your efforts to spite your father and prove your own convictions, you willingly gave him more power over you than he could ever have gotten on his own. At some point, you made the decision to change, but instead of moving forward all you did was throw away your own Quirk because you decided that you_ didn't want it anymore _."_

" _Always remember that nobody controls you but_ you _. If you do your best to be a Hero, then you can become a Hero. If you do your best to be a good person, then you can become a good person."_

" _You can do it, Shoto. You can become not only a great Hero, but a great man too. That's a mother's promise!"_

"I guess…" Shoto trailed off, not quite sure how to articulate his current thoughts, "I guess what Midoriya said just made me remember a few things. It's complicated."

Endeavor gave a grunt that almost sounded like a chuckle, earning him a revitalized glare from his son.

"As unique as you may be, Shoto, there are certain aspects that you share with nearly every teenage boy who has ever lived." he explained, "One of these is that, while you may not necessarily be simple, you are nowhere near as complicated as you believe yourself to be."

… _Was that supposed to be fatherly advice?_

Shoto didn't even have the energy left to give a snide remark. He honestly just wanted the day to be over so he could sleep on everything that had happened and hope that it would make more sense tomorrow.

"There is one thing." Shoto finally said as they turned down the final stretch of hall leading out onto the field.

"Yes?"

"If… _when_ I run into a situation where I need to use my flames, I can't just spray and pray like I did today. These flames are dangerous and I need to learn more about controlling them." it was the closest that Shoto could bring himself to outright asking his old man for help.

"I agree." Endeavor said simply, "In fact, I believe that I have an idea in regards to that. I'll need to work a few things out first, but it should become apparent to you fairly soon."

"I AM HERE WITH THE MEDALS!" an iconic voice boomed from outside, causing Endeavor to grimace.

"In the meantime, you should probably join your classmates in listening to whatever that blowhard has to say."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

All Might was beaming at the four students arranged in front of him on three numbered concrete platforms of varying heights which represented their places in the final four. It was one of those times where he didn't need to worry about keeping his trademark smile in place because he was genuinely pleased.

The fact that young Midoriya was on the platform which he was currently approaching may or may not have served to elevate his already good mood.

"Young Tokoyami, young Midoriya," All Might took a pair of bronze medals from Midnight, who was standing dutifully at the base of the short flight of stairs leading up to the platform and holding the remaining medals, "congratulations to the both of you! You may be in third place, but do not think for a moment that this is not something to be proud of! You have both proven yourselves to be capable young men and I'm sure that the Pros in the audience are looking forward to seeing how you develop just as much as I am!"

All Might drew closer to the boys and momentarily turned off his microphone so that he could have a more private word. He started with Tokoyami, who bowed his birdlike head and allowed the medal to be placed around his neck.

"You're really a strong one, young Tokoyami! You and Dark Shadow both!"

"You honor me, All Might-sensei."

All Might pulled the mildly surprised boy into a hug and patted his back, using the positioning to give him some personal advice.

"Just remember that you can't always rely on your Quirk alone, especially when you have a bad matchup like you did against Kaminari. Hone your personal strengths too and you'll open up a whole new world of possibilities!"

Tokoyami held his medal in his hand as All Might broke the embrace and nodded seriously.

"I understand."

Satisfied that his student had taken his words to heart, All Might stepped to the side and faced his protégé, holding up the medal and prompting him to bow his head.

"Midoriya, my boy, your recklessness and disregard for your own safety during your fight with young Todoroki was a stark contrast to the level-headed control you displayed during your match with young Monoma and your speech of surrender towards young Bakugo afterwards." out of concern for the boy's partially-healed injuries, All Might refrained from hugging him, instead opting to ruffle his poofy hair, "You truly have the grit and determination needed to be a Pro Hero, but you need to exercise better judgement when it comes to deciding what a given situation calls for."

He wanted to say more, but discretion was important when surrounded by so many. They could talk more later, when they had a private moment or two. Midoriya seemed to understand this as he gave a slightly embarrassed nod.

All Might turned his mic back on.

"In second place we have young Kaminari! A well-deserved and hard-earned silver medal if I've ever seen one! You have not only displayed a penchant for teamwork, but also power, determination and the good graces to not only share the spotlight, but outright shine it on others who are also deserving of recognition! I am more than certain that you have done your classmates proud today, young man!"

The boy was clearly embarrassed by the praise that he had received as All Might turned off his microphone and put the silver medal around his neck, pulling him into a hug shortly thereafter.

"The ability to fight on for the sake of others is commendable, young Kaminari. However, in doing so you must make sure that you do not lose sight of your own well-being. Pushing yourself too hard can have undesirable consequences, so don't be afraid to take a moment to rest when you need it."

"Heheh. Yeah, I hear you on that one, Sensei. As soon as I get home, I'm hitting the sack."

All Might took the coveted gold medal from Midnight and switched his mic back on.

"Last, but certainly not least, we have the undisputed first-place winner of the first-year division! Bakugo, my boy, you've certainly lived up to your earlier speech as Freshman Representative, haven't you?"

" _I'm up here because I'm Number One. As a friend of mine pointed out, we're all here because we have goals we want to achieve, but at the end of the day, I'm up here and you're not. If anyone has any issues with that, then today's the day to prove me wrong. Come at me with everything you have and I'll return the favor by crushing you with everything that_ I _have."_

Bakugo pursed his lips before responding.

"It didn't happen the way I wanted it to. I wanted the chance to really show everyone what I could do, but in the end I won what _should've_ been the highlight of the entire tournament by forfeit. Shit happens, I get that, but I find myself actually being a little jealous of the human spark plug over there." he jerked his head at Kaminari, "How ironic is that? First place envying second."

All Might nodded and put the gold medal around the boy's neck before turning his mic off and giving him a hug.

"I don't think anyone here will debate that you have earned your place at the top, young Bakugo, but you have certainly learned a valuable lesson today: As much as the common view might say otherwise, there is more than a small degree of luck at play when it comes to the one standing at the top. As you said, stuff will always find a way to happen when we least expect it. It is how we deal with the ills of life that defines who we are. Never let your determination waver and strive to be the best you can be. You'll go far, my boy."

"Tch. I don't need you to state the obvious, All Might."

"No. I suppose you don't." All Might patted his shoulder fondly before switching his mic back on for the last time and turning to address the crowd at large.

"Well, there you have it everyone! These are your winners! However, I feel it bears repeating that every single participant put on an excellent show for us today!" he made a grand gesture towards the crowd of U.A. students on the field, "Everyone here today has the potential to be standing up here and I just know that this is only the beginning for them all! Competition! Encouragement! Pushing each other to climb higher and higher! There is no doubt in my mind that they will grow into the Heroes of tomorrow and leave the previous generation in the dust!"

"So, everyone, please join me one more time in showing your appreciation for the excellent performance of the freshmen today! May they move ever forward and redefine what it means to surpass one's limits! One, two, and…"

" **PLUS ULTRA!** "

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"So, yeah. Because of the festival, you all have tomorrow and Thursday off. That's when the second and third-year parts are being held and it's all-hands-on-deck for that, just like it was today. Plus, more than a couple of you need to take some time and recover properly."

Shoto, along with the rest of Class 1-A, were seated at their desks and listening to Aizawa's explanation of the aftermath of the Sports Festival, though Shoto suspected that he wasn't the only one whose mind was elsewhere.

"Scouting reports and such from the Pros will be waiting for you here after the break, so that should give you all something to look forward to. Anyway, enjoy your time off and those of you with instructions from Recovery Girl to take it easy, don't overdo it. You know who you are."

Shoto was fairly sure that Midoriya was among those Aizawa gave pointed looks to.

"Alright, class dismissed. See you all on Friday."

Shoto left a bit more quickly than he otherwise would have, which stood out a bit since, in light of the two-day break, a good portion of his classmates were chatting and planning meet-ups and such. No doubt he was reinforcing his reputation as being antisocial even more, but right then he didn't really care.

There were more pressing things on his mind and he just needed some time to be alone and _think_ without anyone trying to pick his brain or make him feel better. As a result of this, he pretended not to hear the two or three voices that tried to get his attention on the way out.

He had changed. Shoto knew that for certain. In the past day he had done things that the old him would never have done, said things that the old him would never have said and admitted things that the old him would never have admitted.

Even so, the old him wasn't gone. He knew this for a fact. It wasn't as though one could simply wake up in the morning and become a completely different person.

It wasn't enough to _want_ to move on. Shoto couldn't just forgive, forget and get over the things that had happened to, around, or because of him. Did that make him stubborn? Maybe. It didn't change the way things were, though.

But…in spite of all that had happened, or maybe _because_ of it, the beginnings of an idea began to take form in Shoto's head.

At the very least, there was something he needed to settle before he could move forward, one way or another.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Wait, what? Shoto, a-are you sure? I mean, can you really go without telling Father? And so suddenly like this?"

It was Wednesday morning and the Todoroki household was quiet except for Shoto and Fuyumi. The former because he always got up early out of habit and the latter because she got up early for her job as a teacher.

"Yeah. It's probably best that I do it like this."

"It's just…why now? Why do you want to go see her after all this time?"

Shoto didn't respond, slinging the strap of a small pack crossways over one shoulder and leaving the property.

 _I know that it's my fault. I can blame the old man as much as I want, but at the end of the day,_ my _existence is what drove her away. Not that I can blame her, really. Sometimes I look at him and I hate what I see, then I look in the mirror and see half of him staring back at me. It's not like I don't understand it…_

… _And that's why I never went to see her._

"Hello, how can I help you today, young man?"

 _She's been a prisoner, in a way. Not just my father's prisoner, but mine as well._

"I'm here to visit a patient in the long-term residential ward."

 _That's why I need to take a step back. Breathe in, reset and cross the starting line properly this time._

"Room three-fifteen? Got it. Thank you."

 _With the memory of that time at the forefront of my mind, I'll muster up everything I can and tell her again, so she knows that I haven't forgotten and I haven't given up._

The door wasn't locked. It wasn't even all that heavy. Even so, it took Shoto's hand a good few seconds to stop shaking.

 _There's so much to say…so much that I_ should _have been saying this whole time, but, if I had to choose one thing…yeah, it'd be that. That one line that started everything._

The room resembled a slightly-cramped one-room apartment minus a kitchen. Shoto would never have had to look very hard to find her, but even in that regard she was easily-spotted. She was seated on a stool in between her bed and a writing desk, looking out the large window. It faced east, so the morning sun caused her to appear slightly silhouetted. In spite of this, there was no mistaking the long, snow-white hair that ran down to the center of Rei Todoroki's back.

" _I want to be a Hero." That's my starting line. For both me…and her._

"Hi, Mom."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Several hours later, Shoto left the hospital in a slight daze. Everything had happened…quickly. His mother had taken a moment to get over the shock of seeing her youngest child for the first time in years before she had burst into tears, cupping the left side of his scarred face and apologizing for what she had done to him.

Shoto had turned the conversation on its head, apologizing for being the thing that had finally driven her over the edge. Rei had forgiven him immediately. It was a bit of a shock to Shoto how fast she changed gears and he had wondered, with a fresh pang of guilt, how many times she had run through this interaction in her head in the hopes that she would see him again.

After the initial emotional surge had subsided somewhat, Rei had asked her son to fill her in on things she had missed. Shoto knew that Fuyumi visited regularly and Natsuo, his older brother, regularly corresponded, but there were things, Rei insisted, that she could only really hear from him.

So Shoto had talked. He had told her about U.A., about his classmates, about the Sports Festival, about…well, everything really. He meandered from topic to topic in a sloppy, unfocused way as new thoughts occurred to him, but Rei didn't seem to mind. Honestly, she had just been happy that they were starting to make up for lost time and wasted no time in telling him so when he had apologized for his scattered stories.

Eventually, it had been time for him to leave, but he had promised to visit again, much to his mother's delight.

So…what to do. Shoto had gone to visit his mother on a whim, true, but it was also on a day where he didn't really have anything else to do. Ordinarily he'd get some training in, but he was under orders to refrain from strenuous activities for the time being due to the beating he had received from Midoriya and, to a lesser extent, Ojiro the previous day.

With nothing else on his agenda, Shoto decided to go with the trusted standby of teenagers everywhere: food.

Shoto took a quick scan of the area to see if there was anywhere nearby to grab a bite, not being as familiar with the area as he should have been, when a voice from behind him nearly made him jump out of his skin.

"Todo! I thought that was you! What're you doing around here?"

Shoto whirled around so quickly that his unbuttoned top layer fanned out around his waist. As he had suspected, he was met with an apparently-disembodied tank top worn over a pair of shorts, shoes and knee-high socks.

"Hello, Hagakure. You surprised me."

"I'll say! It looked like you were about to freeze me solid! It's not like you to be that unaware of your surroundings, Todo. I mean, I just walked right up to you and said 'hi.'"

Shoto was forced to admit that she had a point. He had been a bit lost in his own head and, consequently, his guard had been down. He couldn't blame the invisible girl that she was just naturally stealthier than most people by virtue of being, well, invisible.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was actually just coming from something else and I was a bit distracted."

"Hey, no harm, no foul." she waved off his apology (at least, he _assumed_ she did) and stood next to him to see what he had been looking at, "So…what's going on?"

"At this point, not much." Shoto replied honestly, "I only really had one thing planned for today and since I'm under Recovery Girl's orders not to train…"

"You're bored?"

"Sort of. I'm not that familiar with the area so I was looking for a place to eat."

"What do you like?"

"I was thinking something simple and cheap. Soba, probably."

Hagakure made a thoughtful noise and from the way her shirt shifted she seemed to have crossed at least one arm under her chest.

The sharp sound of skin impacting skin combined with a please exclamation told Shoto that she had had an idea.

"Got it! I know just the place! Here, follow me!" an unseen hand grabbed his and dragged him off in a seemingly-random direction.

"Wait, where are we going?"

"Lunch." she replied succinctly, "Then I was thinking some window-shopping, sightseeing, maybe catch a Hero in action if we're lucky."

"What?"

Once they had crossed the street, Hagakure released his hand and turned around to poke him in the chest, punctuating what she said next.

"It's a date, dummy! D-a-t-e!"

"Why?" was far from the only question on Shoto's mind, but was the first one he was able to give voice to.

"Why not? Neither of us really has anything else going on and I could go for a bite too."

"I've suspected this for a while, but there's something wrong with you, isn't there?"

"Probably, but just for that, _you're_ buying."

As she dragged him off, Shoto wondered, not for the first time, why he kept letting her get away with this sort of crap.

 _It's not like she's_ harmful _in any way and at least I won't be bored…I guess._

"Plus, think about it," she chirped, continuing her previous answer, "I could really do a lot worse than you for a first date, couldn't I? You at least _attempt_ to look me in the eye. Seriously, if you think it's bad for other girls you should try being invisible. Just 'cause you can't see me doesn't mean _I_ can't see _you_ , you know?"

In retrospect, Shoto would look upon that moment and ponder the exact mechanics behind choking on one's own saliva.

* * *

 **I honestly could have made this chapter a little longer for once, but that just felt like such a good stopping point given that this was a Shoto-centric chapter. At least I'm consistent, I suppose.**

 **So, one thing that I didn't mention up top but that I have come to realize: on May 10th, less than a week from now, Torchbearer will officially have turned one year old. This...well, this is a hell of a milestone, especially considering how comparatively few stories post regularly and make it this far, let alone ones that are fortunate enough to be as successful as Torchbearer. I owe this success to all of you and hope that I can count on your continued support in the second year and beyond!**

 **Also, relating to the contest reward notice that I posted last time CaedmonCousland, you officially have two more weeks to PM me and claim your prize before it goes to the second-place winner, The 0bservanc3 and believe me, he/she will not fail to do so given the opportunity so if you still want it, snap to. If not, congratulations anyway.**

 **What are some of our other main characters up to during the break? Find out next time!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	47. Chapter 45: They Wanna Meet You

**Bit of a longer post this time, courtesy of having been on vacation this week! Share in my good fortune!  
**

 **Review time:**

 **Slayer76, Constipated Genius, MyMad-Robotdocter, the_narr_master, Corruption of Saints, Infinite Freedom, Thy Squirrel, Batmarcus, woodxvii, Ooobserver, Steelrain66, Obsessive Consumptive Reader, Wan323, Chocoboblitz, TCook, Tombs456, inFamousSlyMonkey, The 0bservanc3 : It's really neat to see so many people enjoying a ship that just sort of snuck up on me when I wasn't looking. I honestly hadn't planned for ShotoxTooru to be a thing originally, but the level of chemistry they showed during USJ convinced me that I needed to have them interact more and, well, there you have it! They haven't stopped being fun to write, so you can expect to see more of them.  
**

 **Constipated Genius, D3lph0xL0v3r : I hadn't had the opportunity to have an Endeavor+Shoto moment in a while, so it's good to know that I've still got the right touch when it comes to them. I am certainly making an effort to handle Endeavor differently/better than canon does.**

 **Corruption of Saints : What I meant was, while I will not explicitly be using the term "Last Resort," the concept of it does certainly exist. For instance, anything Izuku does at 100% basically automatically qualifies at the moment. Denki's maximum power Indiscriminate Shock probably also would. You have certainly been helpful with some of the name stuff. In the ending A/N of a near-in-the-future chapter, I will list off what I'm currently thinking for the Hero Names of 1-A as it stands, which will give everyone a final chance to get some last-minute suggestions in before they become final.**

 **Reverseflash : The idea of mixing in the Quirks of the previous OFA holders and changing them up to reflect how Izuku's power is different than canon has merit, to be sure, but I stand by what I said before. I will not be taking that route since it just, in my opinion, turns Izuku into an overpowered anime protagonist in much the same way as Bleach or Naruto. I'm more of a fan of finding new and creative ways of using your _existing_ powers rather than just getting new ones as the plot demands. One Piece does a pretty decent job of this compared to the other two, if you need an example.**

 **Wan323 : I will absolutely be including more Fight Club, don't you worry. It just so happens that the entire Sports Festival arc takes place on the same day, so it's been a while since they've had a session.**

 **Arco-Alaude : I'm glad that Torchbearer was able to make your hospitalization easier. I hope that you are feeling better and continue to enjoy the story!**

 **The 0bservanc3 : I did in fact mean "spray and pray" and have since fixed (heh, get it?) that typo. Thanks for pointing it out!**

 **Good question regarding how Shoto knew that Tooru wasn't following him. There're a couple of ways he could've gone about it, but I'm thinking the most likely is that he just watched her for a moment to make sure she was actually leaving. As for Endeavor, well, everyone needs flaws. I think Tokoyami would generally use "me" when Dark Shadow isn't deployed or when referring only to himself and "us" when the opposite is true, though like you said, Dark Shadow is as much a part of him as anyone's Quirk is, so he'd still be justified in using "me" if he wanted to.**

 **In my opinion, it makes sense that the Sports Festival lasts for three days, one for each year of students. This also provides an actual reason for them having two days off afterwards instead of it just being an arbitrary number, as well as demonstrating the higher standard that U.A. holds its older students to (second-years only have one day to recover and third-years don't have any additional recovery time). As for why I skipped the conversation with Rei...I just wasn't feeling it. I thought about typing it all out but my gut told me "don't do it" so I didn't. Sorry that I don't have a better reason * _shrug*_. There is every possibility that we'll see more of her in the future, though.**

 **rjkeith : I'm glad to know that Torchbearer lives up to your standards and that you're excited for what comes next! I do certainly have a new technique or two in mind for Izuku. I do not know of any fic that has given Izuku plant-based powers.**

 **uchihaNaruto247, Death of Snipers, The Keeper of Worlds, Sentinel07, Tonlor, Seneschi, Ezylryb, Gokuu the Carrot, Crysist, Rei-El Dreemurr, Guest, D4NG3RxZ0N3, Abbanation01, Kerchaulk and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's check back in with Mr. Glasses.**

* * *

Chapter Forty-Five: They Wanna Meet You

It was the morning of Wednesday, May 8th 2222. At least, that was what Tenya Iida's phone told him when he checked it more out of habit than anything else. Truth be told, he had not been exposed to natural light since he had entered Hosu General Hospital nearly fourteen hours ago and the unchanging conditions within the hall outside of the ICU were beginning to distort his sense of time.

After Spike had recounted the events that had taken place involving the Hero Killer, Stain, Tenya had taken a moment to process everything, which anyone would agree was a perfectly acceptable thing to need to do in a situation such as his. All told, it had not been until roughly two hours after his initial arrival at Hosu General that Tenya had begun to get antsy. He had quashed his impatience quickly enough, though it did little to change the fact that there was precious little to do other than stand and stare at the wall, sit and stare at the wall, or engage in small talk.

" _Yari-san?"_

" _Yes?" the Sidekick responded from his original position next to the door that concealed Tensei from view._

" _I truly wish that we had been able to meet under better circumstances and the timing of this question is rather inappropriate, but…would you be willing to tell me more about what it's like working for Team Idaten? As someone who is still relatively new, I feel that you could offer a different perspective than someone like my parents, for instance."_

So, for the next several hours, Spike and his mother had fielded all manner of queries regarding everything from Team Idaten, to Hero work in general, to Mrs. Iida recounting a few anecdotes that she had refrained from telling Tenya until he was older.

It was not as though Tenya had not paid attention; he most assuredly _had_. However, for the first time in his recent memory, the conversation had been as much for its own sake as to further his quest for knowledge. Time was the obstacle that currently stood in his way, so he would seek to fill it in the best way he could without leaving his post for any longer than it took to get a drink or use the restroom.

It had honestly reminded Tenya of the incident that had taken place less than a month prior, where he had stood vigil and passed the time in a similar way while in U.A.'s infirmary after the USJ incident.

 _Has it truly been less than a month? It feels so much longer…but at the same time, I can remember it so clearly._

Though it had been similar, it had also been nowhere near as bad as this. That time, he had been allowed in the room to see the patient's condition for himself. That time, there had already been a high degree of certainty that Midoriya would be alright and that knowledge had been reflected somewhat in the atmosphere of the room.

That time, it hadn't been his brother.

His idol.

His Hero.

There was a period of between four and five hours where Tenya could not recall anything and he suspected that he had fallen asleep while sitting on the bench while resting his chin on his hands. Yari had needed to leave in order to provide his official report and his mother had already dozed off in a nearby chair. Tenya remembered thinking that, as hard-hitting as the day's events had been for him, it must have been so much worse for her.

Eventually, the combined physical, emotional and mental fatigue from the day had caught up with him and forced him to sleep. He had woken up roughly thirty minutes prior, but had made no real movements to speak of, simply staring groggily at the door behind which Tensei was fighting for his life. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tenya was aware that he had slept neither long enough nor soundly enough to be in anything resembling peak condition, but he was unable to bring himself to care all the same.

What was he doing again?

Ah, right, he had decided to check his phone on a whim. He had sat there staring blankly at it for so long that it had gone dark and locked itself again.

Upon unlocking his phone again, Tenya saw that he had been notified of new activity in the "Lord Explosion and His Flunkies" chat. For once not being able to bring himself to roll his eyes at the absurd name and what Bakugo had informed them he had _intended_ for it to be, Tenya opened the chat, seeing that the initial message had been posted late the previous night, with responses trickling in at odd hours of the morning.

 _Hmm, perhaps the others had trouble sleeping or were simply up late for other reasons?_

Grenade: Attention members of Fight Club whose contact info I've actually bothered to collect: Ur lord has orders 4 u! Since 2day was such a clusterfuck, club tomorrow is optional.

Grenade: I will b there 4 at least part of the usual time, but might not b there 4 the whole thing depending on who's there.

Grenade: Ur orders are 2 spread the word 2 the rest of the club.

Potato: aye captain! i'll tell ashido and sero.

Potato: oh and i'll still b there 2.

All Might: I won't be there for obvious reasons, but I'll pass it along to Kaminari-san. Pretty sure he has contact info for more people.

Octopus: Message received. I may be there depending on how I'm feeling. Still a bit fatigued.

Star: I probably won't be there. Decided to take care of some stuff around the apartment on the day off. Sorry! I'll let Tsuyu-chan and Tooru-chan know though!

Glasses: Understood and completely understandable! I shall inform Yaoyorozu-san and request that she spread the word as well. Between all of us, we should be able to get the word out to everyone by the time club usually takes place. I will not be in attendance due to outside circumstances.

Tenya regretted that he was being so circumspect about his situation, especially towards those that he liked and trusted, but he just didn't want to have to explain everything right then. Besides, he thought ruefully, the media would be taking care of spreading it around soon enough without his help.

"Ah, Iida-san?" Tenya didn't immediately react, but when he realized that his mother was still asleep and thus unresponsive, he realized that the voice was talking to him.

"Ah, pardon me. I am somewhat…" he made a vague gesture that was a far cry from his usual energetic gesticulations.

"Please, do not worry. I understand completely." the doctor gave him a tired smile, but there was a glint of relief in his eyes that caught Tenya's attention, "I have just finished checking on your brother and had thought to give you an update."

"Please do."

"He had a rough time of it. It was touch-and-go for a while there, but it looks like he's going to recover." the doctor held up a hand to cut off Tenya's expressions of relief and gratitude, "I am obligated to inform you, good news though this certainly is, that we still cannot be sure as to whether or not he will face any permanent effects. At the very least, he will have a rather impressive new scar to show for his trouble." the doctor's expression softened again, "However, my staff and I are cautiously optimistic. His will to live is remarkable and as I'm sure you are aware, he is a strong man who takes very good care of himself. It is entirely possible that he will wake up sometime today, though he will likely remain groggy while he recovers from the initial treatment."

Tenya pursed his lips and closed his eyes tightly while he mastered himself before standing up and shaking the doctor's hand.

"Thank you, Doctor. I am sure that you hear similar lines all the time, but I truly cannot express my gratitude."

"Think nothing of it; I am simply doing my part. Although," the doctor gave Tenya a conspiratorial wink, "I would be lying if I said that it didn't feel good to see the relief on the faces of my patient's loved ones."

Tenya took a respectful step back so as to allow the doctor to proceed to his next destination before asking one last question.

"Are we allowed to see him?"

"As long as you make sure to wear masks and refrain from disturbing him overly much, I don't see why not. If one of the nurses or other doctors requests that you leave, however, please respect their wishes."

Tenya promised that he would and was about to open the door immediately when he stopped and turned to his still-sleeping mother.

 _I can wait another hour or so._ He decided. _She deserves to hear everything first._

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya had a difficult time sleeping the previous evening in spite of his fatigue. Part of this was due to the minor burns that still covered the majority of his body along with his sore arms making him perpetually uncomfortable, especially when he tried to shift or turn over in his sleep. One of these brief bouts of pained wakefulness was when he had noticed the message about Fight Club and responded, shooting off a brief message to Kaminari afterwards.

The other reason was that the excuse he had given his mother to put off having to tell her about his new relationship with Ochako, namely the need to focus on the Sports Festival, was now null and void. Inko had been extremely understanding and supportive, as she always was when it came to her son, but Izuku also knew that her motherly instincts had told her that something had happened the instant he had returned from the stargazing trip. It would only be a matter of time before she broached the topic again and he would have no way of escaping this time.

The next logical step would be her wanting to meet her son's girlfriend, because of course she would. While Izuku was fairly certain that the two would get along well, his tendency to overthink things was causing his nerves to shift into overdrive.

And then came the "what if" questions.

What if they _didn't_ get along?

What if his mother disapproved for some reason?

What if he said the wrong thing and made Ochako feel uncomfortable?

The questions continued in that vein during breakfast, to the point that Izuku almost didn't register that Inko was telling him about how she had fainted multiple times while she was watching the live broadcast of Izuku and Kacchan's matches.

"And then," her tonal shift caught Izuku's attention and he saw a proud smile on her face, "during what was supposed to be your match with Katsuki-kun, you gave such a wonderful speech. They cut to a few audience reactions during that, you know? People were really impressed with the level of honor and maturity that you boys displayed out there and more than anything else that made me think that I couldn't be any prouder of you. Both of you."

"Geez, Mom…thank you." Izuku couldn't think of what else to say. He was well and truly touched at hearing how proud she was of him, even though he had been forced to bow out near the end.

"Of course," as Inko set her fork down on her plate with a clink, her eyes took on an intense glint, "even if I've reached my limit on pride for the moment, I still have plenty of room for happiness and something tells me that there's something that I should feel very, _very_ happy for you about. Would you know anything about that, Izuku?"

There it was. He had known it was coming and she _still_ managed to catch him off-guard with it.

What should he say? He wasn't going to lie and pretend that nothing happened, but how much detail should he go into? Surely, she didn't need to know _everything_?

 _So stick to the facts. Christ, it's just your mom._

…The voice in his head had a point.

"Well, you remember how I went on that stargazing trip to Minamimaki with Uraraka-san?"

Inko nodded.

"And you remember how I said that it went well?"

She nodded again.

"I…may have downplayed it a bit."

"A bit?"

"Well, you see, one thing led to another and…I have a girlfriend now."

"Izuku!" Inko had moved to the other side of the table so quickly in order to hug her son that she nearly knocked her chair over, "Oh my goodness, that's wonderful! You've told me about her before and she sounds like such a nice girl! I'm so happy for you!"

She continued to gush for a few moments before her initial surge of parental joy subsided and she took a step back, one hand still on his shoulder.

"So, how did it happen?"

"Huh?"

"Izuku," Inko gave him a tolerant smile, "you aren't the type to say something like 'I have a girlfriend' unless you have a very good reason to think it."

"Oh." Izuku understood what she was asking for, "Well, I asked her and she said 'yes.'"

"And?" his mother raised an eyebrow and he accepted that he would have to give her more than that.

"Well, we reached our campsite and set everything up, then we ate and started watching the sky. Seeing it like that, it just makes you think, you know?" Inko nodded her understanding and Izuku continued.

"All of a sudden, she asks me a question."

" _Deku-kun, do you ever wonder…whether or not you deserve to be a Hero?"_

" _All the time."_

"I told her the truth. I want to be a Hero, yeah, but I also understand that there's a lot more to it than just fighting Villains and looking cool. People depend on you and there's a chance that those you care for could get caught in the crossfire. I think it's something that every good Hero thinks about from time to time."

"But then, she started to get really down on herself."

" _I guess I've got no chance then, huh?"_

" _I mean, if someone as amazing as_ you _feels that way, then what hope do_ I _have?"_

" _I'm just not in the same league and that's not even talking about everything_ else _that's wrong with me, or did you forget that I'm just in it for the money at the end of the day? It's not that I'm not cut out to be a Hero: I flat-out don't_ deserve _to be one."_

"For some reason, I just couldn't stand to hear her talking about herself like that. I told her that feeling the way she did only meant that she was _more_ deserving of being a Hero."

" _You're the most incredible girl that I've ever met and there isn't a single thing you can say to change my mind."_

"She was…grateful. She made it very clear that what I had said meant a lot to her."

"She kissed you, didn't she?" Inko helped him along.

"Y-yeah." Izuku was reminded yet again that he really couldn't get much past his mother, "And after that, well, I won't lie; it took me a bit to process what had happened. After I got a grip, I just…asked. I knew that it was what I wanted." he shrugged.

"We talked on the way back down the trail. How could we not, you know? We agreed that we would keep it low-key for a bit while we got used to things, plus there was the Sports Festival coming up. I agreed that she could tell her parents, since I knew that you'd get it out of me one way or another."

Izuku thought for a moment longer and concluded that the major boxes had been checked.

"That's pretty much it. We still haven't told our friends, though one of them figured it out on his own anyway, but he agreed to be discreet until we decided otherwise."

"Was it Katsuki-kun?"

"No, actually. He doesn't know."

This seemed to surprise his mother and her lips tightened for a brief moment before she moved on to the question that he had been expecting and dreading in equal measure.

"So, when can I meet her?"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

At the same time, in a different place, Ochako Uraraka was walking home at a leisurely pace from the grocery store. She never bought much at any one time, partially due to her limited finances and partially because it would be a pain to lug a bunch of bags home without being allowed to use her Quirk to lighten them.

"I wonder what I should do for lunch today. Something cheap, so…mochi?"

Ochako was the type of girl who didn't really have a single favorite food per-se. She liked Japanese-style cuisine in general, which was made all the better because a lot of it wasn't all that expensive in terms of ingredients.

Few things in this world are cheaper than a bag of rice, after all.

To that end, she was a particular fan of things that used the versatile grain as a base, but could be tweaked or customized to an extent, so she wouldn't get bored of them. Two such examples of this were onigiri and mochi, though the latter was a bit more of a hassle to make. Still, she really didn't have anything in particular planned for the day, so she had decided to go ahead and take the time to make the sticky treat.

Having mentally resigned herself to a good deal of dishwashing followed by a tasty meal, Ochako reached the door of her apartment and went to unlock the door…

…only to discover that it was already unlocked.

 _That's…not supposed to be like that._

She opened the door cautiously, eyes flicking from side-to-side as she searched for anything out-of-place in the entryway that opened up into the main living space. The lights were off.

 _There's no sign that anyone forced the lock and I know I didn't forget to lock it, so whoever did it has a key? Maybe it was the landlady?_

Her eyes flicked downwards and something caught her attention.

 _Hang on, why are there two extra pairs of shoe-_

"OCHAKOOO!"

"UWAA!" while she had been considering the extra shoes, she had not noticed the pair of figures that appeared in the walkway and began charging towards her, shouting her name even as the door closed itself behind her. The figures approached more quickly than she could react, their features becoming visible and revealing-

"Mom?! Daddy?!" indeed, there was no mistaking the two people that she had known the longest in her life. Her father, with his short, dark blond hair and tall, well-muscled frame. Her mother, with her kind smile and a face that so resembled her daughter's.

"What, how, when," Ochako was so surprised that she could barely form a coherent thought, "Why're you here?!" she eventually settled on.

"To see you, of course!" her mother chuckled.

"I'll say!" her father gave her a thumbs-up, "Your old man just _had_ to come and see his little champion!"

"Wait, but what about work? Did you come here by bullet train? Won't this-" the poor girl was bursting with so many questions that she was dangerously close to short-circuiting her brain.

"We're here to celebrate with you, honey." Mom explained, putting a steadying hand on her shoulder, "I mean, not only did you make it all the way to the final event, you did such a good job! The audience loved you!"

"How could they not?" Daddy grinned, "I've always said that our girl's a trooper. Combine that with her big heart and a face as cute as a button, they'd be crazy _not_ to love her!"

"And what's more, she's already got such a wonderful Hero Name!"

"'Infinity Girl.' if that's not a sign of endless possibilities, I don't know what is!"

They had come to see her, to celebrate with her because they were proud of her. They probably had a bunch of other things that they needed to be doing, but even so they had still come.

Ochako couldn't help tearing up a bit as she shook her shoes off and stepped forward to hug her parents properly.

"You guys…"

"Plus, there's that new boyfriend of yours!" Daddy's eyes sparked with amusement, "You said that he made it to the final event with you, but you wouldn't say which one he was! Since we're in town anyway, we need to meet him!"

"Oh, definitely." Mom nodded in agreement, "Honey, why don't you give him a call while I whip us all up something for lunch? We stopped by the store on the way here, just to make sure there would be enough, so don't worry about that."

Well, her family was nothing if not open, Ochako reflected as she made her way to the bed in the middle of the room and plopped down, fishing her phone out of her pocket.

At least she came by it honestly. Hopefully Izuku wouldn't be too upset at the sudden change in plans.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"So, when can I meet her?"

Izuku, in spite of having expected the question, didn't have an answer. He started to mentally scramble to find one, but was spared when his phone started ringing.

"S-Sorry, Mom, let me see who this is." Izuku was in such a rush to answer it that he didn't bother checking the caller ID, "Hello?"

" _Izuku, good morning. Er, sorry for calling you so soon after yesterday. You're probably tired."_

"Ochako! G-Good morning! You don't need to apologize for that. I'm doing alright, really."

" _That's good."_

"S-So, um…"

" _Right. Why I called. So…my parents are in town. They kind of showed up out of nowhere and, well, they wanna meet you."_

"…Ah."

" _I'm sorry! I know this is completely out of the blue!"_

"No! No, it's alright. Believe it or not, your timing is actually perfect. See, now that the Sports Festival is over for us, my mom wants to meet you too. We were actually just talking about that."

" _Oh, she does? Hang on a sec."_

Izuku heard Ochako giving a quick explanation of what he had just told her, along with a pair of indistinct voices that must have been her parents. After a few moments, her voice became clear again as she picked up her phone.

" _Izuku?"_

"I'm here."

" _So…my mom had an idea. I need to check with you though, just in case you aren't comfortable with it. Since your mom wants to meet me and my parents want to meet you, what if we all got together for dinner tomorrow? My mom even offered to cook if your mom is busy or something."_

That…actually wasn't a terrible idea. It was fast, much faster than Izuku had originally intended, but when opportunity knocks, sometimes you just have to answer.

"Let me check with my mom."

Inko was giving Izuku a curious look.

"Ochako's family made a surprise visit and they want to meet me while they're in town. They've suggested that we all get together for dinner tomorrow if that's alright with you."

Inko took a moment to think about that before responding.

"I think that sounds lovely. See if you can get her mother's number so I can work out the details with her directly."

Izuku nodded and brought his phone back to his ear.

"Ochako?"

" _Yes?"_

"My mom says that sounds great, but she'd like to talk about the details with your mom directly if I could get her number from you."

" _Sure, I'll text it to you."_

"Sounds good. I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow then?"

" _Sounds like it. Are you sure you're okay with this?"_

"I think so. Like you said, it's a surprise, but from what you've told me, I understand how much your parents mean to you. That's enough of a reason for me to want to meet them, even if it's a bit sooner than I might have wanted."

" _You…you really mean it?"_

"I do. And don't worry about my mom. She hasn't even met you and she's already sure she'll love you."

" _Daddy would probably say something like 'Of course she would! Who wouldn't love my little girl?'"_

"Oh, he's that kind of guy, huh?"

" _Big time."_

"Sounds like I better behave."

" _I'm sure he'll like you. Just don't be too intimidated if he tries the whole good cop, bad cop routine on you with Mom."_

The voice that Izuku had assumed was Mr. Uraraka's carried over, a note of protest clearly audible.

" _Yes, I'm ruining your plans, Daddy! I've told you that he gets nervous sometimes and I really don't want you making a bad first impression on him! I don't care if you think I should be worrying about the other way around!"_

Izuku wasn't sure how to react to this, but the problem was swiftly taken out of his hands.

" _Sorry, Izuku, I gotta go. Need to lay down some ground rules with Daddy about meeting you. Do your best to feel better, okay?"_

"I will. I was planning on visiting Recovery Girl for my follow-up today or tomorrow, so I guess that just cements it as today."

" _Bye."_

"Bye."

"They sound like a very loving family." Inko observed.

"They do, don't they?"

"When were you planning on doing your follow-up?"

"Well, it would probably be a good idea to wait until the second day of the Sports Festival starts to wind down, so Recovery Girl isn't too busy. Probably around three or four?"

"I'd like to come with you."

Izuku hadn't expected that.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure that's allowed, but why?"

"I'd like to thank the Heroine who's constantly putting my baby boy back together. Plus, it would be nice to see U.A. again after all these years."

"Wait, you've been to U.A., Mom?"

"Oh, yes." she nodded with a nostalgic look on her face, "It was one of the high schools that I applied for back in the day. General Studies, of course, but the competition was stiff, even back then and I didn't quite make the cut. I did manage to get in to Ketsubutsu, though." smiling at her son's obvious surprise, she added, "Not that I didn't always believe in you, Izuku, but if things hadn't worked out with U.A., I was going to suggest Ketsubutsu as a strong alternative."

"So, the last time you were at U.A. was for your own entrance exam?"

"Oh, no, I was there a few times throughout my high school years. I'm sure you know that Ketsubutsu and U.A. have something of a rivalry, right? Well, let me tell you that's nothing new. I was quite a headstrong young woman back in the day and let's just say that being able to attract small objects from a distance works quite well on things such as, say, student IDs."

Inko chuckled.

"I remember, there was this one time that we managed to get ahold of some uniforms and loitered around the front entrance, waiting for an ideal target. One young man, Kondo-san, was particularly infamous for being stuck-up about the fact that he had managed to get into such a prestigious school. So, when he was about to go in, one of my friends distracted him while I used my Quirk to steal his ID and stash it in some nearby bushes. He kept on setting off the alarm and got scolded by a faculty member for being so irresponsible!"

 _My mother used to help prank U.A. This, apparently, is a fact._

"Oh, speaking of IDs, Mom," Izuku realized, "if you want to walk around on campus, you'll need a guest pass so you don't set off the defense system. Since we're showing up after the day's events are over, there's no guarantee that Recovery Girl will still be in her temporary office."

"Oh my, I hadn't thought of that. Do you think it's too short notice for me to get one on a day like this?"

"I might have an idea, but just in case it doesn't work, would you mind looking up the official procedure while I check?"

"Of course, Izuku."

Izuku went to his room, shut the door, patted himself on the back for coming up with a believable distraction and dialed a certain number that he had in his contacts list simply as "Sensei."

The line rang a few times before he got a response.

" _Midoriya, my boy! To what do I owe the pleasure?"_

"Hi, All Might. I was wondering, and feel free to reject this if it's too much of an imposition, but I was going to conduct my follow-up appointment with Recovery Girl today and my mom wants to come along. We're worried, though, that in light of the Sports Festival, it might be a bit difficult to get a guest pass on such short notice and I was wondering if…well…"

" _If I might be able to provide a guest pass with slightly less hassle?"_

"Well…y-yes. I realize it's a selfish request. I'm sorry."

" _Nonsense, my boy! You did get rather beat-up yesterday and I'm sure that your mother has only the purest of intentions. Making good use of your contacts is a vital part of being successful as a Hero, you know! Why, I can hardly count all the times that having Tsukauchi-kun as an inside man on the police force has paid dividends for both of us! Saves a lot of red tape, my boy, I can tell you that much!"_

"So, you mean you'll do it? Really?"

" _Of course I will! Vetted faculty members, such as myself, are perfectly capable of generating guest passes as long as we don't exceed a certain number each month without proper advance notification! I'll whip one up for you in a jiffy if you would be so kind as to text me your mother's information. Name, Quirk and reason for visit, I think it is. Oh, and a picture!"_

Izuku thanked his idol again and promised he would send the information immediately before hanging up.

Things were…working out shockingly well for him today. It was kind of nice, really.

 _Dude. All Might just asked for a picture of your mom._

…

God damn it.

* * *

 **And now for something special. As many of you will remember, I held a contest in the past which entailed guessing the final four of the Sports Festival tournament. The reward for this was that the winner would be allowed to command me to write an omake based on any prompt of their choosing. The first-place winner was CaedmonCousland, who graciously opted to pass his prize down to the second-place winner, The 0bservanc3. The following omake is this reward. I hope that you all enjoy it!**

* * *

Omake: Family Picnic

If someone asked Katsuki Bakugo about his family, provided that their relationship with him was good enough that he wouldn't simply ignore them or blow their face off, he would most likely respond with something like this:

"My dad works for a fashion company and my mom met him when she was modeling some of his stuff. I don't see my extended family much, so there's really no reason to talk about them. They're mostly side-characters anyway."

From Katsuki's perspective, this was perfectly true. He had met his grandparents, aunts/uncles and cousins before, of course, but due to a combination of his parent's work schedules (though his mom didn't work as much as she used to), his own training to be a Pro Hero, their somewhat-removed location from the rest of their family and a general sense that it wasn't really all that important, they only really saw everyone once every few years or so. In fact, it had been roughly five or six years since the last time Katsuki had found himself attending a Bakugo family get-together.

He was understandably surprised, therefore, when Mitsuki had taken him and Masaru aside one day and informed them that the family had decided to hold the latest get-together in their neck of the woods on account of not having seen them for so long.

"And," she had gone on to say, "because we and my niece are the only ones who live in the area, that means we're responsible for putting the whole thing together."

"Why not just have _her_ do it then?" Katsuki groused.

"Because she's a lazy good-for-nothing whenever it's not a matter of life and death."

"Come on, honey," Masaru said soothingly, "she's not _that_ bad."

Mitsuki gave her husband a deadpan stare.

"Well," he amended, "she's not that bad _all_ the time."

"Even if I did admit that I'm a little harsh on her sometimes, not that I _am_ admitting that, mind you," Mitsuki emphasized with a raised finger, "there's still the fact that she's just one person and when it comes to her line of work when it rains, it pours. Even with you and Katsuki being busy most of the time, I've got more free time than I used to so I could probably work something out."

"You guys have fun with that." Katsuki said as he stood up as casually as possible, "I've got something going on that day, so-"

"What day would that be, Katsuki?" Mitsuki gave her son a beatific smile that promised nothing but a painful death.

"Whatever day this thing is on." the would-be Hero wasn't a little kid anymore and refused to be so easily cowed.

"Oh, that day? I think you're mistaken."

"Pretty sure I'm not."

"Pretty sure you're living under my roof and if I have to plan this, then you sure as hell have to _go_ to it."

"Pretty sure I don't."

"Katsuki Bakugo," Mitsuki's grin widened, "if you do not reschedule whatever _plans_ you may or may not have for whatever day I decide to have this thing on, I will bribe your cousin to come and get you from wherever you are and bring you to the party _by force_ with a news team in-tow. The most embarrassing of the resulting pictures will be framed and hung in the living room until I either get tired of seeing it or die laughing."

"…At least make sure you invite the Midoriyas." Katsuki knew a losing proposition when he saw one, "I at least need one person I can actually _talk_ to without having to be all _polite_ and shit."

Mitsuki raised an eyebrow and looked at her son like he was stupid.

"Of course they're invited, Katsuki," she replied, "I _did_ say this was for family, didn't I?"

It was moments like this that made Katsuki remember why he put up with the woman, the fact that she was his mother notwithstanding.

T – h – e – 0 – b – s – e – r – v – a – n – c – 3

"Ooh, it's been too long, Katsuki-chan!"

"You've grown so big!"

"I hear you're training to be a Hero? About time one of you young'uns did something worthwhile! Back in my day…"

Katsuki was the de-facto greeter for the get-together, which had turned into a family picnic held in some public park or other next to a wooded area with a dirt path. Apparently, Mitsuki knew about it because she and Inko jogged there sometimes when the weather was nice.

Honestly, the setting was alright, if a bit boring for his tastes. What was decidedly less alright was the fact that being the greeter meant that he had to experience the brunt of all the pent-up familial mushiness, particularly on the part of the middle-aged and elderly family members. Why the hell did Japanese people have to live so goddamn long? Was it just so they could torment their descendants for as long as possible?

Whatever the reason, Katsuki needed an out soon or he was going to start exploding faces.

"There they are, mom! Hey! Kacchan!"

Thank. God.

"Deku! What the hell kept you?!"

His green-haired friend jogged towards him while his mother made a beeline for Mitsuki, probably to ask where she wanted whatever food they had brought with them.

"Sorry!" Deku grinned sheepishly, "It's actually my fault. I overslept and we missed our train. Fortunately, there was another one shortly after, but it caused a bit of a domino effect."

"Whatever. Oi, Dad!" Masaru glanced over from where he was having a beer with Katsuki's uncle, "I gotta introduce Deku to people so greet your own damn guests!" he then dragged his friend off in a seemingly-random direction without waiting for a response.

"Where are you taking me, Kacchan?"

"Weren't you listening, nerd? I'm introducing you."

"But I thought you wanted a break from your family members?"

"I do, but if you found out this person was here and you didn't get to meet her, you'd probably strangle me in my sleep."

Knowing that he now had Deku's undivided attention, Katsuki found the woman in question and made a beeline for her. She was currently chatting with a man who was wearing a scarf that covered the lower portion of his face and a hat worn low over his brow, concealing the rest of his head from view.

Oh, well. He would just have to interrupt. Besides, dressing like that in warm weather was just begging for a case of heat stroke.

"Oi, Yu!"

"Huh?" the woman turned to look at him and in that moment, with her ash-blonde hair and irritated expression, it was abundantly clear that she was related to both Mitsuki and Katsuki.

Said expression softened somewhat when she saw who had interrupted her.

"Oh, Kacchan. Is this a friend of yours?"

"Kacchan, there's someone else that calls you 'Kacchan?'" Yu's eyes widened at this.

"Wait, if he lets you call him 'Kacchan,' then I know exactly who you are! Midori-something, right?"

"Wait, y-you know who I am?" Deku was clearly taken-aback that someone he had never met knew who he was. Katsuki silently observed that he'd have to get used to that if he wanted to be a Pro Hero.

"Yeah, Aunt Mitsuki told me about you once, along with that _adorable_ nickname you have for my baby cousin, here." she proceeded to ruffle Katsuki's hair in a way that seemed scientifically-crafted to piss him off as much as humanly possible, "I should thank you for that, honestly; I haven't called him anything else ever since I heard!" she extended her hand and Deku shook it.

"Izuku M-Midoriya. It's nice to meet you, Yu-san."

Katsuki was officially irritated by this point, so he decided that, instead of letting Deku figure shit out for himself, he would trigger him and set him loose.

"Oh, right. Did you ever hear what my mom's maiden name was, Deku?"

"Huh? No, why?"

"It was Takeyama." Katsuki said it as though it was some sort of deep, dark secret. Yu's raised eyebrow told him that she didn't understand what he had just unleashed, but she would soon enough.

Three…two…one…

"Wait, your name is _Yu Takeyama_?"

Oh, yeah. _There_ was the look of realization.

"Oh my g-god, you're M-Mount L-Lady! Kacchan, your c-cousin is Mount Lady!"

"I'm aware."

"Wait," Yu was reeling a bit from being recognized out-of-costume, "you know my real name? I mean, I'm a registered Pro, so it's not like that information is secret or anything, but I don't go around broadcasting it either."

"You've got a point, Yu," Katsuki conceded, "probably because you're too busy broadcasting shots of your ass, but I digress." he made a presentational gesture towards Deku, "See, this guy right here might be the single biggest Hero nerd in the entire country. You'd have a hell of a time finding some bit of trivia that he doesn't know, so real names are basically common knowledge for him."

The mystery man that Yu had been talking to shifted uncomfortably at this, one gloved hand moving to his scarf as if to make sure that it was still in place. This had the effect of drawing Yu's attention to him and her eyes brightened, seeing a potential scapegoat.

"Where are my manners? Midoriya-kun, Kacchan, this is my plus one, Shinji N-"

"Ah, just 'Shinji' is fine." the man newly-identified as Shinji cut Yu off hurriedly and shook Deku's hand, followed by Katsuki's, who noticed that underneath the glove his hand felt strangely hard.

"I apologize for my appearance," Shinji continued, "I'm not generally comfortable around so many people, but Yu-san is a hard woman to argue with when she wants you to do something. Eheheh." he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Being directly related to both her and her sister, I can imagine." Katsuki commiserated.

"Oh, come on, Shinji-kun, Kacchan," Yu said in the patronizing tone she used when she wanted to press someone's buttons as she sidled over to stand next to Shinji, "you make it sound like Takeyama women are all spice and no sugar."

Shinji abruptly made a noise of surprise followed by a small jump before giving Yu what Katsuki assumed was a scandalized look as she removed her hand from the vicinity of his rear.

"Anyway, Kacchan, Shinji-kun and I were in the middle of a conversation and I'm sure you have some more family members to introduce Midoriya-kun to, right? How about we chat later, after lunch when our respective companions have had some time to settle down a bit? I'm hoping Shinji-kun will loosen up a bit once I get a few beers in him."

"Like I keep telling you, I don't drink!"

"Like _I_ keep telling _you_ , you need to relax and live a little! You even told me that you've never really tried drinking socially before, so how can you be sure you won't like it?"

The pair walked off, continuing their back and forth in a similar vein until they were out of earshot.

Katsuki sighed and turned his head to look at Deku, whose brain was currently working overtime to process that not only had he just met Mount Lady, but that his best friend was _related_ to her.

"Kacchan…I…I have _so many questions!_ "

"Yeah, and I'm sure half of them are dumb and the other half can be answered with 'yes,' or 'no shit, Sherlock.' Come on, I have to at least _pretend_ like I'm introducing you to people while you give me the third degree."

T – h – e – 0 – b – s – e – r – v – a – n – c – 3

A couple of hours had passed since Deku had met Yu and his stream of questions had only stopped about twenty minutes ago, after which he had become unnaturally quiet.

"Okay, Deku," Katsuki gave up trying to figure him out and decided, as he often did, to take the direct route, "the fuck's going on in that head of yours? I can practically hear the gears turning."

"It's just…" the shorter boy paused, apparently searching for the correct words, "I feel like I should know who Shinji-san is. Like, it's on the tip of my tongue and when I figure it out I'm going to have to beat my head against a tree or something."

"Come on," Katsuki said exasperatedly, "I know being a walking encyclopedia on Heroes is kind of your thing, but I think some random boy-toy named Shinji falls outside of that category, regardless of who he might be dating."

"It's not just that." Deku insisted, "As soon as he realized that I know a lot about Heroes, he became nervous-"

"You mean _more_ nervous."

" _More_ nervous," Deku conceded, "and when Yu-san was about to tell us his last name, he cut her off. What does that say to you, Kacchan?"

"I know where you're going with this," Katsuki acknowledged, using what he considered to be an indulgent tone, "but it's also possible that he's just paranoid and doesn't like giving out personal information to people that he doesn't know."

"Then why the head coverings?"

"Maybe he's sick? Maybe he's an albino? Maybe he's just an ugly motherfucker, Deku, did you think of _that_?" Katsuki made a frustrated gesture with his arms, "I just don't particularly care to know more about whatever random guy my cousin happens to be screwing. If he's still around next time I get dragged to one of these things, maybe then I'll give a fuck."

"And what if he _is_ a Pro Hero? Don't you think it's worth finding out one way or the other?"

"At this point it doesn't really seem to matter what I think. You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

"Consider it payback for never telling me that you're related to Mount Lady."

Well, he sure didn't wait long to cash that one in, did he?

"Fine. Let's track them down and then you can do whatever."

Giving a nod that was equal parts satisfied and determined, Deku made a beeline for Mitsuki, who was chatting with Inko and a couple of the other women while they worked on arranging the various food containers on a few picnic tables that had been placed end-to-end.

"Ah, Izuku, Katsuki-kun," Inko was the first to notice their approach, "I'm sure you boys are hungry but lunch isn't quite ready yet. Shouldn't be more than another fifteen or twenty minutes, though!"

"Actually," Deku replied, "I was going to ask Mitsuki-san if she knew where Yu-san and Shinji-san had gone. I had some…questions."

Inko and Mitsuki exchanged knowing smiles before the former Takeyama responded.

"I couldn't tell you exactly where they are, but they were going for a walk on the path, I think. If you find them, let them know that it's lunchtime, alright?"

The boys agreed that they would and then set off down the path at a brisk walk. After about twelve minutes had passed, they heard a pair of indistinct voices.

"Yeah, that's Yu alright." Katsuki confirmed once they had gotten a little closer, "If you're planning on eavesdropping, Deku, we should probably break trail."

Deku agreed and the pair made lateral movements until they were behind about a dozen feet of cover, but still able to see the trail reasonably well. They crept forwards until a pair of familiar figures came into sight. During their approach, though they still couldn't hear exactly what was being said, Shinji's voice became more hushed and Yu's took on a throaty quality.

If either of the boys had been slightly less focused on making sure that they didn't make any noise and more focused on processing the events taking place around them, they would likely have turned back.

As it was, they did not and as such they were greeted to the sight of Yu being pinned against a tree and handled rather roughly by Shinji while her own hands were being equally exploratory. As she practically ripped the scarf off of his neck, a very familiar-looking wooden mask was revealed before Shinji retracted it in order to press his lips to her neck.

Katsuki and Deku exchanged equally-shocked looks before Katsuki made a sharp gesture suggesting that they get the hell out of there, to which Deku readily agreed.

A few minutes later, the pair was safely out of earshot of the amorous couple and began to speak freely.

"Nishiya!" Deku made good on his earlier statement and thumped his head against a tree, "Shinji Nishiya! Kamui Woods!"

"Kamui in-the-Woods more like." Katsuki grumbled, "Deku, we can't tell _anyone_ about this. If his fangirls catch wind of this, every public park within a fifty-mile radius will suddenly become fuck central and it'll be _our_ fault."

"Hey," Deku held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, "I've learned everything I wanted to and more. My work here is done and my lips are sealed."

"Good."

Katsuki then made a conscious effort to forget about the events of those few minutes because, however little he might profess to care about certain things, he had no desire whatsoever to retain the image of his cousin being groped in the middle of a park trail by Kamui Woods.

Thus was born the story of that one afternoon during a Bakugo/Takeyama family reunion picnic where Katsuki and his best friend went on a walk in the woods and absolutely nothing interesting happened whatsoever.

* * *

 **That ended up being a good deal of fun to write. Hopefully I did The 0bservanc3's prompt justice.**

 **I do have a question for everyone this time: Does anyone know the names of Mr. and Mrs. Uraraka? As far as I know, they haven't been officially named, but I could be wrong. In that event, does anyone have some fun ideas for names for them?**

 **Next time: Izuku and Inko visit U.A., we see what Fight Club is up to and, due to last time's scene with Shoto and Tooru being so well-received, we'll touch base with them too.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	48. Chapter 46: Newbie

**When I was uploading the document for this, I noticed that the last time a chapter had a file size as big as this was Chapter 32. I must have been feeling inspired or something. To date, the chapter with the biggest file size is Chapter 11, with the word doc being 50KB. Fun fact.**

 **Also, thank you to those of you who replied regarding Mr and Mrs Urarakas names (or lack thereof in this case). I'll either have to come up with something or just call them Mr/Mrs Uraraka or use euphemisms.**

 **Review time:**

 **The Keeper of Worlds, Corruption of Saints, avidreaded, 61394, rjkeith, Batmarcus, The 0bservanc3, TheJSmooth : The omake was extremely well-received, to the point of people asking if it is/if it can be canon. Originally I wasn't really thinking about that, but I don't think it would really get in the way of anything if it was at least semi-canon so...sure, why not. Mitsuki's maiden name being Takeyama is canon.  
**

 **Hestia is Bestia : Due to plot-related stuff happening with the characters involved, I cannot give you a straight answer to the question of whether there will be an All MightxInko ship in this story. That's like, mega spoiler territory. Glad you're enjoying the story though!**

 **rjkeith : I do have some potential plans for a pairing for Bakugo, though obviously I can't say anything about that. As far as weapon usage goes, that'd be a bit tough to work into Fight Club simply because of the increased risk, but at least a couple of the students will definitely use them. Momo and Denki are two that come to mind right away (he really liked that baton that Momo gave him).**

 **Thy Squirrel : One of the things about relationships in a lot of media, be it anime, cartoons, whatever, is how much they play the will they or won't they game for the sole purpose of sparking conversation and igniting the fanbase. Thus, I have made a conscious effort not do to that here. It's funny that you'd ask about Hisashi. This chapter might have something for you there.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Katsuki is referring to how a bunch of club members got injured/tired/whatevered so badly that they wouldn't be in any shape to participate in the club activities. This version of Katsuki is definitely better with social situations than canon, thanks in no small part to Izuku's influence. "One thing led to another" and "long story short" are indeed tropes that can backfire easily depending on how they're used. I'm not sure if I'd say that Torchbearer! Inko is closer to her son than canon Inko or not, simply due to canon Inko not getting as much screentime or development as mine. If they seem closer, it might be because I tried to write their mother/son relationship as more...real? Relatable? Idk.  
**

 **Ochako is definitely a daddy's girl, yeah. As far as her accent goes...I just kinda forgot. I'm also not entirely sure how I'd write that accent, so I might just forego it entirely. I'm fairly certain that I've never mentioned the name Uravity in Torchbearer. Kondo was just a random character I made up on the spot and will probably not be significant.**

 **I'm not sure if Nishiya would sweat. I think that only parts of his body are actually wood, so I'd guess the parts that aren't would probably sweat. Yeah, my reasoning for how the Quirks could be so different was pretty much just "Eh, Quirk mutation." I took some license with him retracting his mask, but if we assume that he eats like anyone else (which I did) then he'd have to have a way to do that. Plus, he does the same type of motion as something like a gundam or super sentai warrior, and that's awesome (if you need a reference of that, look at a clip of Viewtiful Joe at the start of a boss fight). What Katsuki means is that if rabid fangirls find out that Kamui like doing it in the woods, then the woods will become inundated with horny fangirls.**

 **HyperNinja203 : You know, I didn't even realize that the title could apply to the whole chapter. Good catch there. It makes me look a lot smarter than I actually am XD**

 **Consipated Genius, Sentinel07, Tonlor, Johnny Spectre, ILiekFishes, 13RoniN13, inFamousSlyMonkey, Eramis8, ScepticalOne, Dr-J33butOffline, Guest, omegazero2718, scorpioneldar, TheJSmooth, Ooobserver and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's pick up where we left off! Or at least, a couple of hours after that.**

* * *

Chapter Forty-Six: Newbie

It had only been a couple of hours since Izuku Midoriya's talk with All Might concerning the U.A. guest pass, but he and his mother were already en route to the Hero Academy's campus. All Might had texted him saying that the guest pass was ready and that the second day of the Sports Festival seemed to be progressing more quickly than the first.

The timetable was actually pretty efficient when they didn't constantly have to call intermissions in order to patch up the ring. Who'd have thought? In retrospect, Izuku supposed that was why they started relatively early in the day as well: to allow for unforeseen complications.

The result was that the inheritor of One For All and his mother got off their last train nearly two hours prior to when yesterday's festivities had ended.

"I had expected it to look different." Inko mused as they approached the front gates, "It does, but not as much as I had thought. My, this brings back memories."

She then started to point out little things that she remembered or that had changed over the years. The school's walkway was, as ever, impressive and the novelty of his mother being familiar with U.A. was still very fresh for Izuku.

He still couldn't help being nervous about his mother meeting All Might, which was silly, since the boy had known the Number One Hero on a personal level for over a year by then and, consequently, had gotten rather comfortable around him. He didn't stutter on every other word around the man anymore and even rolled his eyes occasionally at his over-the-top antics.

Even so, he had never stopped idolizing the Symbol of Peace. If anything, knowing the real All Might, flaws and all, had served to humanize the man and make Izuku respect him even _more_. He wasn't some invincible ubermensch who ate evil and shat justice as though it was second-nature to him; he was a flesh-and-blood man who knew pain, felt fear and had regrets just like everyone else. In spite of the obstacles that had stood in his way, that _still_ stood in his way, he refused to bend or break.

In the truest sense of the word, he was a Hero. He was _the_ Hero as far as Izuku was concerned.

Inko had known that her son had been training with All Might and she knew that he was a teacher at U.A. How could she not have known? It had been one of the most heavily-publicized career moves in recent history. While Izuku knew that his fears were most likely baseless, as they generally were in situations such as this, he couldn't stop himself from worrying that two of the most important adult figures in his life would end up not liking each other.

What if his mother thought All Might was a bit too goofy to be a respectable teacher? What if All Might thought that his mother was a bit overbearing? What if they got into an argument?

Izuku was jolted out of his reverie by the feeling of a hand ruffling his hair.

"You're doing it again, Izuku." Inko gave her son a knowing smile, "Just relax. Everything will be fine. It's not like I'm not nervous about meeting him too, you know? How could I not be? He's been your Hero for practically your whole life. Do you know how many parents would absolutely kill to have them be their child's _mentor_ of all things? If there's a person that I need to thank besides Recovery Girl, it's undoubtedly All Might."

"Ah-ha! The Midoriyas are HERE!"

How a seven-foot two mass of muscle was consistently able to appear out of nowhere, with absolutely no one seeing him coming, was a mystery that Izuku doubted he would ever completely solve.

"GAH! All Might-sensei!"

"Ha ha! Startled you, did I? My apologies, my boy!" he then turned to face Inko and held out a badge with a neck strap, "Your guest pass, Midoriya-san. May I say that it is a pleasure to meet you in the flesh; my protégé mentioned you to me quite often during the breaks in our training."

Inko, in spite of her earlier assurances, was clearly a bit star-struck as she took the badge and put it around her neck.

"The p-pleasure is all mine, All Might! You've been a mainstay in our household ever since Izuku was old enough to understand what a Hero was!"

"You flatter me. Please, allow me to escort the two of you to Recovery Girl's office! The day's festivities are over, but it may still take her a moment or two to return to her regular post. Last-minute treatments and all that, you know. When that woman finds the time to rest is beyond me!"

"You're one to talk." Inko chuckled.

"Ha ha! You have a point there! I can see where your son gets his wit!"

"Really, I'm only partly to blame."

"Is that so?"

The conversation continued in this fashion for the next several minutes as the trio meandered through the mostly-empty campus. Once Inko had mentioned that she had been to U.A. before but had never attended, All Might had adjusted their route to include some of the more scenic views of the area. After a brief lull in the conversation, All Might rubbed the back of his neck in an uncharacteristically nervous fashion.

"Forgive the imposition of my next question, Midoriya-san, and feel free to not answer if I am overstepping my boundaries too greatly, but what of Izuku's father? He mentioned that the man has the ability to breathe fire, which is where the elemental nature of his Quirk comes from, but he was rather tight-lipped about him otherwise."

Inko was silent for a moment and Izuku feared that what he had dreaded earlier was about to come to pass, but she surprised him by answering in her normal tone.

"Honestly, it's probably because he doesn't have that much to say. My husband, Hisashi, has been working overseas since Izuku was about three years old. He supports us financially and I still get the occasional letter from him, but Izuku hasn't seen him for over twelve years."

All Might looked as surprised as Izuku felt that he had actually gotten an answer, which Inko clearly noticed.

"I'm telling you this because it's clear to me that you have Izuku's best interests at heart. I don't believe for a single moment that you would ever do anything to hurt him or that you would go around spreading stories. He trusts you, All Might, and I do too."

"You humble me."

"You've earned it, as far as I'm concerned. Izuku has grown into such a strong young man and I know that it's at least in part thanks to you."

"If I may ask, would you be willing to tell me a bit more about Hisashi-san?"

They had reached Recovery Girl's office, but she was not back yet.

"Sure, we have some time to kill. Izuku knows most of this already, but I first met Hisashi when I was about twenty-one, not that I knew it at the time. I was still in university and it was a long weekend or something like that. Either way, I found the time to go to a large shopping center and just walk around for a while with a couple of friends. I must have forgotten my bag at some point because an ordinary-looking salaryman type flagged me down and gave it back to me. I thanked him and didn't think anything else of it."

"It wasn't until a few months later that I saw him again. I've never been the type to put too much thought into what I do during my leisure time. Always seemed counterproductive to spend energy planning on what you'll do to recharge your batteries, you know? That's how I ended up back at that same shopping center. I was walking by the fountain in the central plaza when I saw a familiar-looking man in a suit sitting on a bench and doing some people-watching. I don't know what made me walk over to him, but I did. I thanked him again for helping me before and we introduced ourselves and started chatting. It turned out that his name was Hisashi and he enjoyed just "losing himself in the crowd" from time to time. He said it helped him think."

Inko giggled to herself.

"He was always a bit of an odd duck. It made him interesting and probably helped me to remember him. He had this sense of mystery about him, like there was always something more going on beneath the surface. I was never interested in so-called "ordinary" men. Honestly, most of them were too boring for me. It became a sort of informal routine for Hisashi and I to look for each other when one of us was at the shopping center. We'd talk, people watch, window shop, sometimes have lunch, that sort of thing. A year after we'd first met, he asked me out. I laughed at him and asked him what took him so long. He gave me this really serious look and said "I wanted to be sure." It turned out that he'd been hurt multiple times before and that made him wary of getting too close with someone, but since I had never shown any interest in his money or otherwise taking advantage of him, he felt like he could trust me."

"Makes him sound kind of old." Izuku commented, "World-weary."

"I thought that too. He was only a few years older than me, but he would get this look in his eyes sometimes. He'd seem so tired, like an old soul in a young body. Sometimes he would just seem so…disconnected. He would get so lost in his own head that he would start talking to himself, forget what he was doing or walk into a pole."

 _I wonder why that sounds familiar? Do you know anyone like that, Izuku?_

 _Shut up, Other Izuku._

 _Hey, at least you come by it honestly._

"He was charming in his own way and seemed to be in a good mood when I was around him. He would be more alert, more _present_. His work must have been demanding, even soul-crushing, for him to be in such clear need of some sort of distraction from it all."

"'Must have been,' Midoriya-san?" All Might inquired.

"He never really talked about his work." Inko shrugged, "I know, I know; that's a red flag that he might have been involved in something illegal, but I wasn't dating his job: I was dating _him_. When I brought this up to him, he even went so far as to get me a copy of his public record so I could see that he wasn't a wanted man or anything. I didn't ask him to do that, he just went ahead and did it because he believed in taking the most direct solution to any given problem. Need to prove that you aren't some Villain? Public record. Want to spend more time with your girlfriend? Get an apartment together. Want to prove to your girlfriend in no uncertain terms that you love her and are committed to her? 'Hey, Inko, let's get married.'"

Inko trailed off for a moment or two, smiling at her happy memories. Izuku had known most of the facts so far, but when Inko had told him this story some years earlier, she hadn't been quite so frank with the details. It gave Izuku a new look at the man that Hisashi was besides just "Daddy loves both of us and he's working very hard to support us."

"No fuss, no big plan, no surprise public proposal or anything like that. He went out early that morning, bought the ring, went to work and proposed to me when he got home. Didn't even say hello, just 'Hey, Inko, let's get married.' It was pretty much the exact opposite of how a proposal is 'supposed' to be done and it made me the happiest woman in the world. At least, I thought it had until Izuku was born. _Then_ I was the happiest woman in the world."

"I was twenty-six when I became a mother. It's one of those days that I just know I'll never forget, down to the smallest detail. From the first moment that Hisashi saw Izuku, he was transformed. Something changed in him that day and he was happier and more full of life than I had ever seen him before. For the next three years or so, everything was wonderful. Hisashi would still occasionally have to step out on business, but that was just the nature of his work. Sometimes he'd be gone a day, sometimes a week, but he was always happy to be home."

"Then, just before Izuku turned three, he got a letter in the mail. I recognized it as being from one of his insider contacts that he never spoke with over the phone. He was clearly agitated by whatever was in the letter and stepped out shortly after. When he came back, he said that he'd been promoted. Not that he'd been 'offered a promotion,' that he'd 'been promoted.' The sour taste that left in his mouth was evident even as he tried to frame it in a positive light. As usual, I could tell there was something more going on. He was scared. Something had happened and Hisashi was scared and concerned for the well-being of his family. He left the very next day and started his work overseas. He's been doing that ever since."

Inko concluded her story by adding one final thing.

"The money he wires to my account every month has allowed me to be there full-time for our son and not worry about living expenses. I've never once felt that he's abandoned me or Izuku and I know that he'll be back someday."

That…resonated with Izuku. It made him feel warm inside to know that his mother had so much faith in the man that he could barely remember. She had told him similar things before, but for some reason, seeing her look All Might dead in the eye and say those words made Izuku realize for the first time that she really, truly believed them.

"When that time comes, I would very much like to meet him." All Might said.

"I know he'd be very grateful for everything you've done for our son." Inko bowed, "So, from both of us, thank you, All Might. Please continue to look after Izuku and help him to become everything that I know he can be."

The Symbol of Peace stood a little straighter and returned her bow, his expression serious.

"I swear it."

Recovery Girl arrived a few minutes later and All Might bid them goodbye, claiming that he had things to do, though Izuku knew it was also because he had become more conservative with his time limit since the USJ incident.

The follow-up appointment went well. Izuku received another dose of healing that made most of his burns fade into nothing, though he was told that his arms would still be sore for at least a day or two and that he was to avoid strenuous activity until the pain was completely gone and _yes_ , that included his usual workout routine.

"If you're that antsy, then go for a jog or do some squats!" the elderly nurse barked at him.

The only appropriate response to anything that a medical professional said to you in that tone of voice was "yes sir/ma'am" and Inko, after thanking Recovery Girl profusely for all the help she had given to her son, promised that she would ensure that he followed her orders to the letter.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was surprised. There was nothing intrinsically complicated about the reason for his surprise. In fact, it was almost blindingly simple: there was someone standing in front of him that he had not expected to see.

No, it wouldn't be accurate to say that he "didn't expect to see" this person. It was more along the lines of "he was so vaguely aware of this person's existence in the first place that for them to show up in this place, at this time, wouldn't have even entered the realm of possibility for him."

Yet, there he was. Tired eyes and indigo hair that looked like he had been playing around with an electrical socket.

Katsuki had shown up a bit early for Fight Club that day. He had nothing else to do, really, so he figured "why the hell not?" When he had entered the underground location, he had offhandedly barked something into the supposedly-empty room about how "club president's in the house; bow before me."

His initial surprise was due to someone else actually being there and bowing to him in greeting. Namely, Ojiro. Then came the secondary surprise of actually seeing Aizawa there. His homeroom teacher/club supervisor had explained that this was as good an excuse as any to avoid being stuck in an announcing booth with Yamada for two days in a row, but that his secondary reason was because he was in the process of vetting a potential new addition.

It was only at this point that Katsuki had registered the existence of the third person who had been occupying the room before he had showed up, which brought him to his current state of surprise.

"Who the fuck is this?"

"Hitoshi Shinso." the new kid answered him, "I made it to the third event yesterday, but your Class President took me out."

"Right, first round. Kid from General Studies. That explains why I don't know you. It doesn't explain what the hell you're doing _here_ , in what is _supposed_ to be a secret location." Katsuki punctuated his sentence by shooting Aizawa an accusatory glare.

"Need I remind you that I am the faculty supervisor of this club and am therefore within my rights to extend invitations to possible new recruits? If you consider the situation rationally for a moment, then it's pretty obvious that's why he's here."

As usual, Aizawa's logic was sound, damn him.

It wasn't as though Katsuki was _opposed_ to the idea of getting a new recruit or two, but he hadn't been planning on doing that quite so soon. Plus, as Club President, he wanted to be consulted about things like this. It was _his_ club, damn it!

"Okay, so you wanna join Fight Club, do ya?" Katsuki leaned forward both to crank up the intimidation factor and to get a better look at Shinso. He wasn't _scrawny_ per-se, but Katsuki could tell that he had slacked off on his training after failing to get in to the Hero Course.

"Not originally, since I didn't even know it existed until today, but Aizawa-sensei thought that it would be a good way to test my non-Quirk abilities, so he brought me here." he shrugged, "If I get in, then it'll be good training. If I don't, then I guess it becomes a non-issue."

"If you get in to _what_ , exactly? I get the feeling you're not talking about my club."

"Shinso has been recommended to fill the vacant spot in Class 1-A by Kaminari." Aizawa explained, "As Class President, his opinion on the issue actually carries some weight, though as your homeroom teacher, I still get the final say and I'm not about to take on another kid if they don't prove to me that they've got what it takes."

Katsuki was starting to get the picture.

"So, he makes it into Fight Club, he makes it into 1-A?"

"His grades are up to snuff and his Quirk is plenty powerful, so the only real things left to check are his physical conditioning and practical abilities. He proved that he's able to make good use of his Quirk in a combat situation, but I'm not convinced about his ability to win without it. As the Club President, I'll leave the exact method of testing up to you, provided that you don't go overboard."

"Sure, I can think of something." Katsuki agreed, "There's still one thing I don't understand though." he spun to face Ojiro and jabbed a finger at him, "How the hell do _you_ fit into all this?!"

"Ah, I don't, really." Ojiro made a placating gesture with his hands, "I honestly just showed up early and they were already here doing some drills. Pure coincidence, I promise. Although," here he got a thoughtful expression on his face, "I'd be willing to test him if you wanted."

"Nah, you're overkill." Katsuki waved him off, "There's no sense in letting every newbie fight the top-ranked guy. They should have to _earn_ that. Same goes for all of the high-tier fighters, really. If we're gonna rank this guy properly, then he needs to run the gauntlet and for that we need one member of each tier present."

"Did I hear 'fresh blood?'" an enthusiastic voice heralded the arrival of Kirishima, shark-like teeth bared in a grin, "Mid-tier newbie-crusher reporting for duty!"

"Hey, that's the guy that went toe-to-toe with a literal man of steel and knocked him out. You're telling me _he's_ mid-tier?" Shinso suddenly looked much more concerned about the situation.

"You better believe it." Kirishima laughed, "High-tier is full of freaks-of-nature!"

"Oi!" Katsuki barked.

"Chill, Bakubro. I'm just psyching out the new guy."

"Un noveau gars? Tres bien!"

Great. The wannabe Frenchma-

Wait, that actually worked perfectly.

"Good timing, Sparkles! Fight Club is, er, in need of your services."

"Indeed?" Aoyama struck an unnecessary pose, "I am at your service, mon chef!"

"Like you heard, we have an applicant for the club. We need to put him through the ranking gauntlet and until you showed up, we were short a low-tier fighter to go at it with him."

"Ah, so you are in need of a leader for the welcoming committee? I shall gladly fill this spot!"

"Sound good, Ojiro?" Katsuki looked to the one who was in charge of the rankings.

"We have Aoyama-san representing low-tier, Kirishima-san for mid-tier and yourself for high-tier?" he thought about it for a moment, "Ordinarily, I'd want to differentiate the mid and high-tier fights a bit more, since both you and Kirishima have an overall aggressive, in-your-face style, but we don't exactly have anyone else to pick from at the moment, so-"

"Hey guys, wassup?"

" **You know, if you're short on fighters, I'm always available!"**

Sero and Tokoyami had arrived at the same time and Dark Shadow was making yet another play at convincing Katsuki to make him a fighter.

Hang on…Sero?

"Ojiro, what about Sero?"

"What 'what about Sero?'" Sero asked suspiciously, "What'd I do?"

"Sero-san, huh?" Ojiro smirked slightly at that, "Yes, that will work very well. Sero-san, you have been selected to represent mid-tier in a ranking gauntlet."

"Oh, for real? When?"

"Basically right now. Shinso-san here is our applicant."

Shinso waved with uncertainty, not knowing exactly how to react to his opponent being switched out seemingly at random.

"Oh, hey, I know you! You're the guy from the tournament yesterday! Dude, your Quirk is something else."

"Thank you?"

"Since everyone we need is here, except for Yamada," Aizawa yawned, "let's get this thing going."

And just like that, Shinso was squaring off against Aoyama. The applicant had adopted an orthodox fighting stance while the self-proclaimed chevalier (who was wearing a goddamn _blouse_ of all things), stood confidently with his hands on his hips and his ever-present sharp smile in place.

"Do your best, mon amie." Aoyama said encouragingly, "It is only bad fortune that you ended up facing me, but I am sure Ojiro-san will judge you fairly."

Seriously, _where_ did this guy get his confidence from? He had improved over the past couple of weeks, sure, but nowhere near enough to warrant this level of cockiness. At least when Katsuki was cocky, it was because he'd _earned_ it, damn it!

"I'll warn you right now, newbie," Katsuki said before the fight started, "this guy is easily in the bottom three of the club. If you can't put up a good showing against _him_ , then you can kiss your chances goodbye."

"And with that, let the match begin!" Ojiro swiped his hand downwards and Aoyama began walking leisurely towards Shinso.

"Le President has a sharp tongue, but the meaning behind his message rings true." Aoyama then performed a bizarre sort of pirouette and his leg shot out, Shinso barely managing to sway back in time to avoid it, "If you let your guard down, even against a low-tier opponent such as me, then your defeat is certain!"

Katsuki had to admit that, by Aoyama's standards, this wasn't a bad performance. He had evidently decided to make up for his close-range weakness by utilizing his proportionately-longer legs to keep his opponents at a distance. His moves were still needlessly flashy and inefficient, but at least the core of his strategy was sound. Plus, legs were naturally stronger than arms, so they could still deal a good amount of damage even when used by a physically weaker fighter.

Shinso, meanwhile, was doing a good job of avoiding his opponent's kicks, but had yet to try and close the distance between them. Katsuki knew that look, though: he was watching closely, biding his time for when the opportune moment presented itself.

Soon enough, it did.

"HAH!" Shinso ducked underneath a particularly high kick and surged forwards, sweeping Aoyama's good leg and tackling him to the ground.

"Sacre bl-oof!"

Shinso planted a knee in his opponent's torso and seized him by his collar, right fist cocked back to strike at his head before pausing.

"Should, uh, should I keep going?" he looked to Ojiro and Aizawa on the sidelines, uncertain.

"Ordinarily, I'd suggest hitting him at least once in a situation like this, to drive the point home." Ojiro supplied, "However, if Aoyama-san is agreeable, I am willing to call the match here."

"Ahh…" Aoyama sighed dramatically, "Bravo, Shinso-san. I submit to you."

"The winner by surrender is Shinso-san!" Ojiro declared as Shinso helped Aoyama to his feet.

"Let's keep it moving. Next is Sero." Aizawa ordered.

"Alrighty then." the lean fighter stretched his limbs casually as he strode into the designated ring.

Katsuki noted that the two boys were roughly identical in height, which was unusual for someone as tall as Sero, who stood at roughly five-ten. His reach was still greater than Shinso's, but not by the same margin that he usually enjoyed.

"I'd say you're both warmed up by now. Begin!"

Sero sidled forwards, right arm held at the ready but his left swaying like a pendulum by his waist.

"Let's see…I think it was something like 'snap,' right? Or was it more 'oof?' 'Bam?'"

Shinso, apparently seeing an opening, made a sharp step inward, aiming for Sero's unguarded midsection.

 ***CRACK***

"AGH!"

Sero had raised his left elbow and then his forearm had blurred with a sudden, whip-like motion, resulting in his lightly-clenched fist snapping into the surprised Shinso's face, snapping his head backwards with the impact. Sero followed up by shifting forwards, grabbing his opponent by the shoulder and jerking him forwards, driving a knee into his solar plexus and causing him to collapse, wheezing.

"'Snap.' It was definitely 'snap.'" Sero decided as Shinso worked to regain his breath and force himself to stand, "Makes for a pretty good opener, if I do say so myself. Most people don't expect something like that."

"Son of a bitch just used a flicker." Katsuki muttered with a slightly raised eyebrow. It wasn't a complicated technique by any means, but most people didn't think to use it outside of a boxing ring. With Sero's long reach and strong elbows, it was a move practically tailor-made for him. Either he had done his research, or Ojiro had been busy.

"Kinda rough on the hands, gotta admit." Sero shook his hand as though it stung, "Still, gets the job done."

"Who are you calling 'done?'" Shinso growled and stood back up, planting himself in front of Sero.

"Give it a minute and we'll find out." the Tape user retorted, raising his fists again and circling his opponent, waiting for him to step into range.

Katsuki understood his strategy fairly well. If you had greater reach than your opponent, then it meant that they would always have to enter your range in order to attack. There was no reason to expend excess energy going after them when you could just force them to come to _you_ instead. It was a fundamentally defensive strategy, so it wasn't one that Katsuki would typically use, but it could be really annoying to deal with.

Shinso clearly understood the gist of the situation, since his response was to lower himself, tighten his guard and charge straight into Sero's torso, more or less ignoring the reflexive punch that struck him in the process.

"Hey, get off!" Sero attempted to knee Shinso again, but couldn't break through his guard and his punches had no windup room, consequently reducing their power. Shinso made a few body shots, but his form was imperfect and they seemed to annoy Sero more than anything. Eventually, he shoved Shinso and took a step back.

It had become clear what Shinso was looking for in that moment when his right went screaming towards Sero's jaw in a massive uppercut…that whiffed just before the bell rang.

"Alright, that's the match!" Ojiro announced, "A good showing by both fighters. Shinso's counter-strategy was a sound one, though he lacked the necessary technique to pull it off effectively."

"Alright," Katsuki rhythmically struck his palm with a fist as he sauntered into the ring like he owned it, "time for your ceremonial ass-kicking. Word of advice? Grit those teeth."

"Yeah, definitely don't let him get you like I did." Sero clapped Shinso on the shoulder as he exited the ring, "Nice punch at the end, though. If I'd taken that, I'd be on the floor for sure."

Katsuki could tell that his opponent was starting to feel fatigued. That was part of the brutality of the gauntlet: the challenger would get tired out while each of his consecutive opponents started fresh. You would know for sure that anyone who got sorted into high-tier right off the bat _deserved_ it.

"Alright, let's start the final match. Begin!" Ojiro declared.

Katsuki, as was his nature, didn't waste any time. He shot forward, seized one of Shinso's wrists as he tightened his guard, wrenched it out of the way and floored him with a savage hook while he was off-balance.

"I did warn you!" Sero called from the sidelines.

"He's not wrong." Katsuki corroborated, "You were warned. Move those feet, newbie! You don't have the grit to just sit there and take this kind of shit! Who do you think you are, Kirishima?"

"I feel like I should take offense to that." Kirishima opined.

"What, the brick's taking offense to being called a brick? Go break a window."

"Hey, if I'm a brick, I'm a _wall_ brick, not a window brick!"

Shinso lunged for Katsuki's legs, attempting to take advantage of his apparent distraction. He was rewarded by Katsuki hopping over his arms and landing squarely on his back, yanking his leg into a very, very uncomfortable position for anyone who wasn't a contortionist.

"Nice try, but that type of thing only works when you're not completely outclassed."

"Actually, in a situation where your opponent is distracted, such a move would work most of the time." Tokoyami corrected, "Bakugo-san just happens to have fast reflexes, an uncommon level of combat awareness and it's entirely possible hat he was setting you up."

"Birdman, shut your seed hole! I'm trying to haze this fucker! Speaking of which," Katsuki turned his attention to Shinso, who was grunting with pain, "you haven't tapped out yet. Any particular reason for that?"

"Ngh! I'm waiting for the bell!"

"Oh you are, are you?" Katsuki increased the strain on Shinso's leg, causing him to groan, "There's about, I don't know, a minute left on that thing and while I can't cause you any permanent injuries here, I _can_ make that into a very, _very_ long sixty seconds for you if you don't surrender. Like, right now."

"Or I could call the match to avoid any unnecessary suffering." Ojiro pointed out.

"That's only if I take it too far, right?"

"Do I get a say in this?" Shinso grunted.

"Not unless what you have to say is 'I surrender.'"

"It's up to the referee's discretion, which in this case is me." Ojiro corrected.

"Well go ahead and _exercise_ that discretion, why don't you?"

"I will."

"Go ahead."

"I'm going to."

"Do it."

"I am."

 ***DING DING DING***

"I hereby declare this match to be over! Let him go, Bakugo-san."

Katsuki complied, causing Shinso to sigh with relief and roll over onto his back.

"Well, congratulations, newbie." Katsuki shook his head in mock-disbelief, "You survived that. You're the first one who has, you know."

"He's the first one you've done it to, Bakubro."

"That doesn't make my statement any less true, fuckhead! I'm trying to be all ominous and menacing here!"

"For _who?!_ " Kirishima was obviously trying not to laugh, "Tokoyami's not scared of jack, Sero's, like, perpetually chill about everything, Aoyama only has one facial expression, I know you too well for it to work on me, Ojiro knows what you're doing, Aizawa-sensei doesn't care and Shinso was already scared beforehand, right?" he looked to Shinso for confirmation.

"Petrified." the messy-haired boy stared at the ceiling and responded with the most deadpan expression that Katsuki had ever seen outside of Aizawa and a voice that was dripping with so much sarcasm he was almost surprised not to see it dribbling out of his mouth.

"There! See?"

Kirishima, as per the norm when he on a roll, failed to notice either of these things.

"The results. Get to them." Aizawa stated flatly. Ojiro complied.

"Well, he won his first match handily, ran down the clock on the second and also ran down the clock on the third, though that was primarily because his opponent was deliberately toying with him." the tailed martial artist ticked the matches off on his fingers as he went, "It is worth noting that he was on the verge of a comeback in the second match, though it fell flat in the end and he was almost entirely on the defensive up until that point." he nodded, "I believe that Shinso-san has the ability to improve and would be qualified for a spot in low-tier. He has the mental ability and the drive to succeed, but his actual skill level and physical abilities don't quite match up with these."

"So you're willing to accept him?" Aizawa sought clarification.

"I am." Ojiro nodded and smiled at Shinso, "Provided that our Club President agrees, of course."

"Tch. Whatever." Katsuki responded flippantly, hiding the fact that he actually agreed with most of Ojiro's assessment. The indigo-haired kid could very easily become a significant force, especially when paired with his Quirk. He was smart and driven, he just needed the physical capabilities to match, "Let him in."

"Well, I guess that settles that." Aizawa looked at Shinso, who had sat up at this point, "Everyone say hello to the newest member of Class 1-A and Fight Club. You'll start attending our classes immediately, which is to say Friday. You're playing catch-up here, so I expect you to do everything in your power to make up for the month you spent in General Studies. If you show me that you can't hack it, I won't hesitate to kick you out."

Shinso stood a bit shakily and bowed to his new homeroom teacher.

"I understand, Sensei. Thank you for this opportunity."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Tooru Hagakure was enjoying herself thoroughly. She had originally just meant to go for a walk around town. Do some people-watching, stretch her legs, grab a bite to eat, do some shopping, maybe text some of the girls. That sort of thing. Not a bad day, but not a great one either.

Then she had seen a familiar two-toned head of hair exiting the premises of a certain hospital that she had just so happened to be passing by and had felt fate tugging at her proverbial sleeve.

Tooru had honestly been a bit apprehensive at first. Todo had told her that he wasn't upset with her yesterday, but the way he had shooed her away and ignored her when they were released for the day had told her that he was still upset, even if not directly with her. She had hesitated for a moment, bordering on the decision of simply turning around, pretending she hadn't seen anything and going on with her day as originally planned.

While she was thinking on it, she had noticed the look on Todo's face. He seemed like he was walking around in a daze, like he had just been hit over the head with an emotional shovel. Something had happened and it had affected him strongly. As someone who was something of a social butterfly, not to mention that she actually cared about the person in question, Tooru's curiosity was immediately piqued.

That had only left one real course of action and Tooru had taken it without further hesitation. This had led to her and Todo going on a date which, in her opinion, was going rather well so far.

They had started with lunch. Per her companion's suggestion of soba, she had taken them to a noodle shop and he had surprised her by ordering zaru soba in spite of the fact that it wasn't particularly hot outside. He had explained that he just liked cold soba better and even ate the stuff in winter.

After lunch, Tooru had made good on her offer to show him the sights, since he had said he didn't usually make it out to this part of town. This turned into a combination of sightseeing and window-shopping. For the most part, he kept pace with her, but Tooru occasionally found herself dragging him by the hand when she saw something particularly interesting.

When she alternated between hands, she noticed that there was a noticeable difference between the two: his left hand was warm and his right was a bit chilly. All else being equal, Tooru decided she preferred the left and stuck to that one once she had realized the difference.

Todo, for the most part, had been a silent companion. Tooru wasn't particularly bothered by this, since that was just how he was, but their awkward parting from yesterday had made her paranoid. Plus, he had subtly avoided the question when she had asked him what he had been doing at the hospital. He wasn't under any obligation to tell her, of course, but whatever had happened there had really impacted him and she couldn't tell whether it was for the better or not.

That, more than any of the other points, had Tooru worried. Todo didn't need anything else messing him up, particularly after how hectic the previous day had been. So it was that after a couple of hours, when they had decided to sit down and grab something to drink (her treat this time), she found herself trying to work up the courage to broach he topic again.

"Okay," Todo had eventually said after a few solid minutes of silence, "what's wrong?"

"What?" Tooru was caught off-guard, having been lost in thought.

"You're way too quiet. During this whole thing, you've barely stopped talking for more than a minute or two at a time. It's been almost five."

Not for the first time, Tooru was taken aback by how easily he was able to see what was written across her invisible face. To anyone else, it would probably have seemed like he had just been humoring her all afternoon and not really paying attention. Maybe he had been doing that for part of it, but every time Tooru looked at him while she was talking or showing him something, he had either been looking at her or what she had pointed out.

Yes, he was also able to tell what she was pointing at. She was a highly-expressive girl, sure, but a few mistakes or misinterpretations would have been not only acceptable, but expected.

Not with him. Not with her.

Maybe that wasn't a fair assessment. He wasn't a hugely social guy in the first place and consequently didn't hang out with many people in his spare time. He might just be a naturally observant person with anyone. Who was to say that she was special?

Well, there was one way to possibly test that theory.

"I've been thinking about something. Wondering, I guess."

He said nothing, but his mismatched eyes were focused on her. One blue and piercing, the other gray and steady.

"What happened at the hospital this morning?" she blurted out.

"Huh?" he blinked, brow furrowed, lips slightly parted. Shoto Todoroki was well and truly nonplussed and if Tooru hadn't been so intent on their conversation, she would have found it absolutely hysterical. Or adorable.

She would later decide, in retrospect, that it had been hystorable.

"When I saw you, before I said hello, you looked like your whole world had just been rocked. Like something really, really big had happened to you and you were having problems processing it. Yesterday…you weren't yourself. I'm worried that something happened and made things worse, even though you don't seem mad anymore."

He appraised her carefully, eyes locked on to hers in the way that only he and her family seemed to be able to do. The silence probably only lasted for a few dozen seconds, a minute at the most, but it felt like far, far longer.

Would he get angry again? Would he just stand up and leave? Would he coldly dismiss her question? Would he avoid it again? Would he say that she had imagined it?

As it turned out, he would do none of those things. After fixing her in place with his unblinking gaze, Todo closed his eyes, took a deep, slow breath, let it out and moved his nearly-empty drink to the side, kneading his fingers together and resting his hands on the table in front of him.

"Okay."

"Wh…What?" Tooru realized that she hadn't been breathing.

"Okay." he repeated, looking at her again, "I've thought about it and I've decided that I trust you. You haven't given me any reason not to and, though I freely admit that you can get on my nerves sometimes, you've shown that you want to be there for me, even when I don't want you to be. For whatever reason, you really, really seem to want to know me. Plus, I crossed the line yesterday. I know I apologized for it, but I shouldn't have gotten as angry with you as I did. Even after that, you still came to the infirmary to see me instead of watching the other matches. Not only did you come, you stayed. You didn't have to do that."

"So, fine." he continued after taking a moment to work out his next words, "If you want to know what happened, I'll tell you. You've earned that much, provided it stays between us unless I say otherwise."

"I swear!" Tooru's words came out more forcefully than she had intended in her rush to agree before he could chance his mind, "Todo, I won't tell anyone! Not a soul!"

"Okay." his lips tightened as he steeled himself, "I saw my mother for the first time in ten years."

Well, if _that_ didn't justify every single bit of emotional upheaval that he might have been feeling and _then_ some, Tooru didn't rightfully know what would.

"Oh my god…" was all she could get out for several seconds, "Todo, I- that's- after what _happened_ \- I mean, what? What happened? Why haven't you seen-"

"Don't do that." he said in a flat tone that brooked no argument, "I know you know. I know you were there yesterday when I was talking with Midoriya. I know you heard what I told him and…I know what happened after that, too."

Tooru wasn't used to being rendered speechless so many times in quick succession.

"I'm sorry." were the first words she said when she regained her tongue, "Todo, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have been there. I shouldn't have been listening. I-"

"It's fine."

It was seriously not fair how easily he kept shutting her up.

"You were concerned. I gave you plenty of reason to be. You…were trying to look out for me. It's not something that I'm used to outside of a couple people, so…"

She wanted to hug him. She just really, really wanted to hug him.

"So, yeah. I went to see my mom. That's the hospital that she's been in all this time. I've known exactly where it is for most of the past decade. My sister visits her and my brother sends her letters and stuff, but I've never done either. Not until today." he gave her a curious, searching look, "I expected her to be angry with me, you know? She'd be well within her rights to feel that way. I'm most of the reason she's even _in_ there."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"But she wasn't. She's not. Hell, the first thing she did was apologize to me. To _me_. I told her that didn't make sense and that _I_ should be the one apologizing, but she wouldn't hear it. Completely waved it off. Then she asked me to fill her in on what she'd missed and I just…talked." he raised his entwined fingers briefly in the visual equivalent of "so, yeah" before letting his hands thump back to the table.

"I'm going to see her again at some point. Don't know when. Don't know what I'll say. Don't know if she'll feel then the way she should have felt today."

Tooru's cheeks were wet by that point. She wasn't sobbing, but it was a close thing.

"Todo?" she stood up.

"Yeah?" he did likewise.

"I know you're not really the type for this sort of thing, so…sorry in advance."

She walked around the table, wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed. She felt him stiffen and was pretty sure that she had overstepped her bounds, but she just really needed to get this out of her system. A few more seconds, then she'd let go and he could be mad at her.

"You're right."

There, he confirmed it. Tooru loosened her grip and had a half-formed apology on her lips before she found that she couldn't break away. There was something holding her in place. Two somethings, actually. One was warm and the other was a bit chilly.

"…But it's not so bad, really."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back for Tooru as she redoubled her grip and sobbed into his chest. It wasn't because she was sad or hurt or anything like that.

It was because she knew he wouldn't.

And right then, she felt like _someone_ needed to.

* * *

 **So, some big things happened here, not the least of which is something that a lot of you have been suspecting ever since Mineta left U.A. Also, emotionally-vulnerable Shoto. I don't think I've seen anyone handle him in quite the same way as me, especially here, so I'm interested to hear what you all think about that. Plus, we got some backstory on Hisashi, albeit from Inko's point of view. Still a shitload more than canon's given us, so there's that.**

 **I will say that I do have plans for Hisashi and they will be different from canon even if a certain popular fan-theory turns out to be true.**

 **Now, for something that I said I'd be posting soon. It is now soon. The following is my working list of Hero Names for 1-A. Underlined names are those that I feel strongly about, but welcome suggestions for. _Italicized_ _names_ are those that I'm on the fence about and would welcome feedback/suggestions on. Unformatted names are those that I could easily live with, but nonetheless welcome suggestions on.**

 **The common theme here is that suggestions are still welcome.**

 **Aoyama - Chevalier Scintillant (translates to "twinkling knight" and reflects that I'm trying to make him more French than in canon)**

 **Ashido - _Alien Queen_ _, Pinky_ (I'm honestly not at all sure what she should be. I'd be fine with Pinky or Alien Queen, but for some reason the "right" answer isn't revealing itself to me)**

 **Asui - Froppy (Nothing particularly wrong with canon here IMO)**

 **Iida - Callidum (This, in my opinion, is a rare stroke of genius from a guy who sucks at naming things. Long story short, Ingenium is a real Latin word. Callidum has a similar meaning, but it's got slightly lesser implications. Sort of like calling someone "clever" vs calling them "a genius")**

 **Uraraka - Infinity Girl (She has had this name built-up for her in-universe and people are already recognizing her by it)  
**

 **Ojiro -Tailman (Again, nothing particularly wrong with canon, though if anyone has a neato idea I'm open to it)  
**

 **Kaminari - Showstopper, Frontman (Both of these reference his in-universe experiences and I can see either one working for him. Let me know preferences/suggestions)**

 **Kirishima - Red Riot (He can't NOT be Red Riot. Crimson Riot will always be his inspiration and that's where the name comes from. Full stop)  
**

 **Koda -Anima (Another guy that I just can't think of anything for and let's face it, not as prominent of a character even in my story where I try and give people more attention)  
**

 **Sato - Sugarman (I honestly couldn't think of any alternatives that didn't sound suggestive. Sugar Daddy, anyone?)  
**

 **Shoji - TENDAR, Tentacole (One of these is his canon name, which is fine. The other is a play on RADAR. For those who don't know, RADAR is an acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging, while Shoji's would be TENtacle Detection And Ranging in reference to his sensory abilities. Plus it's the kind of name that sounds cool when you scream it in a 70's hair metal voice and for some reason that matters with him)  
**

 **Jiro - Jackie Cardia (I'm proud of this one in a way that I can only describe as how Dads must feel when they make Dad Jokes and then laugh their asses off. It's based on tachycardia, which refers to an abnormally rapid heart rate, then turned into a name based on the fact that her Quirk is Earphone Jack. The Pulse-Pounding Heroine is guaranteed to raise the Villain's blood pressure!)  
**

 **Sero - Cellophane (It's a solid canon name that I can't think of any alternatives for other than jokey stuff like Scott Tape)  
**

 **Tokoyami - Nevermore (When this was first suggested, a lot of people supported it and I just think it's a badass name for him)  
**

 **Todoroki - Shoto (This is the unusual case of having TONS of potential names to pick from, but all of them are too "awesomecool" for Shoto to ever actually pick them in-character. If anyone has some suggestions that you think he might actually go for, let me know)  
**

 **Hagakure - Invisible Girl, _Mira Mira,_ _She-Through_ (One of these is her canon name, one of these is a fan's suggestion and one of them is a pun. Feedback and consensus are needed)  
**

 **Bakugo - Lord Explosion, Baku Don (One of them is a more politically-correct version of Lord Explosion Murder and the other is a stealth pun. Bakudan means bomb, so calling himself the Baku Don essentially means he's calling himself "The don of explosions" or something like that)  
**

 **Midoriya - Deku (Similarly to Red Riot, Midoriya can't NOT be Deku. It's just who he is)  
**

 **Shinso - _Simon, Zombieman,_ _Mockingjay_ (One is a fan suggestion relating to Simon Says, one references how those he hits with his Quirk exibit zombie-like tendencies and one is thinking ahead to how he uses is voice modulator)  
**

 **Yaoyorozu - Creati (It's a good canon name and I can't think of anything better)  
**

 **Feedback on these is appreciated, since it's a pretty important part of the character's identities. Obviously names can be changed later, but I'd like to avoid that except in plot or character-related incidences.**

 **Next time, we haven't checked in with the Villains in a while. I wonder what they're up to? Plus, a certain Class President has some explaining to do. We might get to the meet-the-family dinner, but I'm taking the events more or less in chronological order, so it might not be until chapter after next.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	49. Chapter 47: Honey and Vinegar

**Wow, I can't remember the last time a chapter got so many reviews! The feedback you guys have given for the Hero Names is fantastic and one or two of the names have actually been changed because of it.**

 **Review time:**

 **domingoez, w1lliam, MarvelNinja10, Slayer76, joshiiman02, MyMad-Robotdocter, DragonDavester, darklordlv12, kelissandra, Mumblesnake, cloudpanda961, the_narr_master, Dark White Fang, 61394, bp136714, Anime Insaniac, Xelar8, Jaro45, Byakurai Namikaze, Wan323, Batmarcus, Ooobserver, BoopyDoop745, D3lph0xL0v3r, Chocoboblitz, PokeKing Charizard, sunsetskywrites, Constipated Genius, Corruption of Saints, Howling Armadillo, origamishishou, Tonlor, inFamousSlyMonkey, The Incredible Muffin, BlazerBug, The Keeper of Worlds, Hi, Guest, Gokuu the Carrot, Ravens, Ricku28, DancingMoose007, night, Just a guest, The 0bservanc3, Malchior, Tzekel Khan : I think it's great that so many of you weighed in on the names. A few of the highlights:**

 **Someone mentioned that Aoyama's name would more properly be "Chevalier Etincelant." I looked it up and it seems legit. Nice work. The community seems divided on Alien Queen vs Pinky. Someone actually made an interesting suggestion to give her the combination name of "Alien Queen: Pinky" (probably just Pinky for short) which I kind of like.**

 **Asui, Iida, and Uraraka most people seem to like. Ojiro was tricky and a lot of you seemed to face similar challenges as myself. Someone suggested "Tailblazer" but my immature brain immediately pictures him kicking ass while high as a kite which, while hilarious and awesome, is probably slightly out-of-character for him. The majority of you seem to like "Showstopper" for Kaminari and there are no arguments about "Red Riot" for Kirishima. Someone suggested "Dolittle" for Koda both in reference of how he talks to animals and how he quite literally doesn't do very much either in canon or my fic XD. I might end up using that because it's so true. Someone also suggested "Sugar Rush" for Sato, which isn't bad, but it's already the name of his Quirk and I don't like Earphone Jack for that same reason. Someone also suggested the Muffin Man, which is amazing but has a similar issue as Tailblazer.  
**

 **The next two are a bit divisive, one moreso than the other. For Shoji, it seems there are an equal number of people that like and don't like "TENDAR." I'll have to do a bit of thinking and pick one name or the other. Many more people weighed in on "Jackie Cardia" for Jiro and the opinions are much more divided. Those who like it seem to absolutely love it and those who don't also seem to feel strongly. Having said that, the most common alternative to this (when one was presented) was the canon "Earphone Jack" which I'm trying to stay away from.  
**

 **Sero and Tokoyami people seem generally cool with. Todoroki, no surprise, had a lot of weigh-ins, but there was one suggestion that I particularly liked and that he could be easily talked into: "Celsius" or alternatively, "Excelsius" (Excel + Celsius and also an alternate form of Excelsior). One is simple and not too over the top and the other has a few meanings to it that might resonate with him. Maybe he starts with one and upgrades to the other? As for Hagakure, a surprising number of people like "She-Through." I was not expecting that.**

 **Another big player: Bakugo. A lot of you like Baku Don and those that don't had an almost unanimous alternative: Ground Zero. This is a popular fan name and there is speculation that it may become his canon Hero Name but, as a couple of you have pointed out, it isn't exactly original at this point. Plus, I just kind of like "The Godfather of Explosions: Baku Don" better. Midoriya there are no real arguments with, which brings us to Shinso. There were quite a few suggestions for him, but a large number of them ended with something like "but Mockingjay is good too." Combined with the number of people who outright prefer Mockingjay, I think we have our answer. An interesting alternative presented for Yaoyorozu was "Genesis" which I like about as much as Creati.**

 **Celestia's Paladin, darklordlv12, TheJSmooth, Batmarcus, Ooobserver, Constipated Genius, Corruption of Saints, inFamousSlyMonkey, The 0bservanc3 : I knew that dropping Hisashi's backstory like that would get people thinking! As usual, I can't confirm or deny a lot of these theories because spoilers, but I will say that nobody has gotten it 100% correct. If anyone DOES get it 100% correct...I'll be surprised. I will be very, very surprised.  
**

 **DragonBall Shin : I've worked a bit of Vigilantes/Illegals into Stain's backstory, but since the series is still ongoing and it's tough to say where things will end up, I may or may not end up using more of it.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : For how quickly the guest pass was gotten...little of column A, little of column B. It is entirely possible that All Might is just moving too quickly to be observed by regular people, but you would think that someone would notice the wind he kicks up. All Might's interest in Hisashi is mostly because he's Izuku's dad and he cares a lot about Izuku. Also because Inko talked him up so he's interested in him as a person.**

 **You are correct that the All Might vs. All For One battle takes place roughly six years ago. However, unless I am very wrong in my research (which I might be, but my notes are already written, so whatever), there is another event that takes place about twelve years ago or so. Hitoshi is Shinso's first name. The popular fan theory about Hisashi is that he is All For One, since Horikoshi is a Star Wars fan and All For One looks like Darth Vader.**

 **Superf7n Guy : I agree with your assessment of All Might's power level during his final confrontation with All For One. It will certainly be a very important fight for me to do justice to and my All Might is definitely a bit better-off than canon at this point due to his fight with Nomu going better and him resolving to be more frugal with his daily power use. As for All Might still being able to briefly assume Muscle Form after losing his power, I think that it's just something that he's learned to do over the years and possibly the dregs of One For All in his system. It's a tough call since we never see the results of anyone else burning out OFA after having passed it along.**

 **TheOkWriter, Mrguy22594, ScepticalOne, RHJunior, King-Dorado, ProjectIceman, Guest, Guest, kit95, StandupSitdown, Guest, Crysist and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, let's see what everyone's favorite(?) Hero Killer is up to:**

* * *

Chapter Forty-Seven: Honey and Vinegar

The man formerly known as Chizome Akaguro was rather uncomfortable. As he was essentially a roaming assassin who took whatever meager shelter he could find, this was something of a regular occurrence for him. Indeed, after the first few moves, he had become somewhat accustomed to it, though he never _enjoyed_ it.

No, the reason this particular discomfort was noteworthy was because his battle with Ingenium had cost him more than he had originally predicted. He had managed to pop his dislocated shoulder back into its socket, but his torso was essentially one massive bruise from where he had smashed through a building and struck the ground. Add to that the constant throbbing in his bones and the Hero Killer wouldn't have been surprised to find that he had some hairline fractures in his ribs and a cracked skull.

He had known that Ingenium would be a rough battle, but to land _two_ clean strikes against him when he already knew his opponent's fighting style was nearly unheard of. That and the raw power that the speedster had exhibited was beyond Stain's predictions. He could very easily have lost that battle if his reflexes had been slower.

So, in order to recover a little before his next excursion, the former Vigilante had decided to hunker down for a little while in a non-descript old building. Food and water would become an issue soon enough, but for the time being at least he had shelter and was well-hidden.

"Well, good _morning_ , Hero Killer. I guess it really _is_ true that the encounter rate goes up at night."

Stain's train of thought was instantaneously derailed as he executed a painful evasive flip that brought him to his feet, sword in his hand and eyes darting from side-to-side.

"Hey, take it easy. I'm not here to fight you."

The intruder's voice was coming from a different location than previously. He had moved and he had done so extremely quickly. Due to the lack of power in the building and the dark sky outside, roughly two or three A.M. by his estimation, visibility was very poor. Stain had not been able to catch a glimpse of his opponent.

"You know who I am and you found me far more quickly than should have been possible. Forgive me if I'm not inclined to take you at your word."

The intruder, whoever he was, seemed like a talker. If he could use his voice to pinpoint his location, then maybe he could tag him with a thrown blade? If he did that, then his Quirk would make speed or stealth useless propositions.

"I'm not a Hero if that's what you're worried about. Quite the opposite, actually."

"What," Stain spat, "you think that I'd be more inclined to trust a Villain? You're naïve."

"I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm asking you to put that sword away and come with me."

"A tempting offer." the Hero Killer sneered, "I do have an alternative in mind, however."

"If it's killing me, then you should probably know that even if you succeeded, which you wouldn't, that I didn't find you by myself. I've got party members waiting in the wings."

Skeptical as he was, Stain had to admit that made sense. It would have been nigh-impossible for any single individual to have located him so quickly. Of course he would have had assistance. That also meant their situation was most likely being monitored in some way. If the intruder was harmed, his allies would know and they likely had the ability to make his life difficult.

Well, rule number one of dealing with a talker: keep them talking.

"What do you want?"

"I told you already: I want you to come with me. I feel like we could help each other and besides, one of my party members wants to meet you. She's kind of a fan."

Stain had to admit, whoever this was more or less had him by the balls.

"Besides, some of those injuries look nasty. A bit of actual first-aid might do you some good."

Scratch that, whoever this was had him _entirely_ by the balls. And he knew it.

That didn't mean that Stain was just going to give him what he wanted, though.

"Before I agree to anything, show yourself."

"That's fair."

Footsteps echoed through the room from slightly off to one side, eventually resolving themselves into a thin man with a black outfit, red shoes and disembodied hands attached to various places on his body. He spread his arms and gave a mocking half-bow to the Hero Killer, though his expression could not be read on account of the hand attached to his face.

"Tomura Shigaraki, at your service. Now, we're burning moonlight. You coming with me or not?"

Stain grimaced and sheathed his sword.

"It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice in the matter."

"We always have a choice." Tomura responded, seemingly on reflex.

Stain blinked, this response having caught him off-guard.

"Yes, I suppose we do."

Maybe there was more to this man then met the eye? The Hero Killer observed as he took a phone out of his pocket, holding it in a curious way that kept his pinky extended.

"It's me. Target located and compliant. Bring us home."

For a moment, Stain was suitably impressed by the apparent level of planning and coordination that had gone into Shigaraki's operation.

"Huh? What do you mean 'where?' Where my locator is!" a brief pause, "What do you mean 'how do I turn it on?!' For chrissakes, Kurogiri, we _talked_ about this! This was supposed to be the part where I just whip out my phone and shazam! Instant portal. Flash. Pizazz. Wow factor. First impressions and all that shit!"

Another pause.

"Okay, okay. Do you have the app open? Okay, do that. Now attune it to my phone's GPS. No, remember, we're masking the signal. It won't appear as me. _I_ don't remember! Check the list! It's on the fridge!" pause, "Well _who moved it_?!"

Stain was beginning to regret his decision.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

After a more sizeable delay than he was willing to admit, Tomura Shigaraki finally managed to get Kurogiri to open a Warp Gate for himself and Stain.

"Right, minor mishaps aside, welcome to the headquarters of the League of Villains." Tomura had instructed Kurogiri to bring them directly into the building just in case negotiations broke down so that the Hero Killer wouldn't know their precise location. The bar was currently closed, so there were no worries that a random patron might stumble in.

"You know me already. The bartender is Kurogiri." the mist-headed man gave a polite bow, "And she's-" Tomura stopped mid-sentence when he realized that the "she" in question was not currently in the bar.

"Ah, Toga-san chose to retire for the evening a few hours ago. As she was not integral to this phase of the plan, I saw no reason to keep her awake." Kurogiri explained.

"Alright, I'll go get her. In the meantime, Kurogiri, patch our guest up a little and pour him a drink or something." the bartender nodded and turned his attention to the Hero Killer.

"Please, have a seat. I shall fetch the first aid kit and be around momentarily. As for refreshments, I think perhaps some water first to rehydrate yourself, but after that-"

Kurogiri's voice faded as Tomura passed through the "employees only" door and descended a rather plain staircase which was dimly lit by recessed bulbs. This was, he knew, so that it would not impact one's vision as they ascended or descended.

In spite of himself, Tomura could not help the twitch at one side of his mouth at the bartender's obvious enthusiasm. In spite of the potential danger presented by the Hero Killer, he couldn't help being happy that he had a new patron. The joy that he found in servitude was one of the things that made him such an excellent underling.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Tomura reached into a pocket and withdrew a pair of thin drawing gloves that covered the outer edge of his palm as well as his pinky and ring fingers. Odd though they looked, they were a convenient accessory when he didn't want to be constantly aware of what and how he was touching. He had refrained from putting them on earlier due to Stain's presence and would likely be taking them off again when he came back up, but for the time being it was nice to be able to massage his neck or scratch an itch without fear of disintegrating himself.

They also helped him avoid getting ink or graphite on his hands when he was writing, which was a plus.

After a few minutes (he felt no need to hurry, confident that Kurogiri could handle the Hero Killer for a moment if he decided to get rowdy) he reached a room with a plaque that read "Himiko" with a few hearts drawn around it. All in red ink, of course.

 ***Knock knock***

"Toga."

No response.

"Hey, Toga."

Still nothing.

 ***Knock knock***

…

"I'm coming in. Last warning."

The continued lack of any response caused Tomura to sigh as he opened the door. It wasn't locked. None of the personal rooms were equipped with locks.

As he entered the small room, which featured a bed, desk, dresser, small bathroom and not much else, he found the object of his search quite easily as the dim lighting of the hallway spilled in through the door. She was curled up on top of her covers, cardigan, shoes and skirt discarded off to one side, leaving her clad only in the top of her seifuku, socks and undergarments.

 _Huh. She must really have been tired to not even bother changing all the way. I guess she_ has _been working hard lately. Then again, we all have._

Tomura sat down on the foot of the bed, closing his eyes for a moment and letting out a tired sigh.

"Himiko, I know you're awake. Even if my knocking didn't wake you up, the bed sure as hell did."

Sure enough, when he opened his eyes and glanced over, a yellow, slit-pupiled eye was reflecting the minimal light back at him.

"You know I don't like you calling me 'Toga.' It sounds impersonal."

True, he did know that. When Himiko considered someone to be her friend, she insisted on jumping to a first-name basis almost immediately.

"I'm being careful." Tomura replied in a low voice, "We've got a new face in the building."

Himiko yawned and rolled over onto her back, propping herself up on her elbows to look at him better.

"It's someone you've been wanting to meet." Tomura teased. He watched as the gears turned in Himiko's tired brain before something clicked.

"Kyaa!" she launched herself across the bed in a flying hug and would have knocked him to the floor if he hadn't been expecting it, "Shiga! Did you really do it? Did you really find him?"

"Yeah. He's at the bar. I came to wake you up because I knew you wouldn't want to wait."

Himiko tightened her arms and squealed in excitement.

"Oh my god, I love you!"

Though this wasn't the first time he had been glomped by the amorous girl, Tomura still wasn't completely used to it. He awkwardly patted her head, causing her to let out an annoyed huff.

"A hug isn't going to kill you, Shiga."

"Yeah, but until recently it would have killed _you_."

"I still can't believe you never thought to use the gloves that way. Seriously, how did you _function_?"

"Very carefully. Now, get yourself dressed before you fall asleep again."

"You mean before _you_ fall asleep. I know how tired you are."

"Don't tempt me."

"Oh?" Himiko got up and sashayed over to the desk where her clothes had been tossed, "'Tempted' are you?"

Tomura stood up with a grunt and shook his head in mock annoyance. It was just empty flirting and he knew that. He certainly didn't have any particularly special feelings for the girl and she didn't have any for him. She was just _like_ that.

At least, he had used to think so.

" _Toga."_

…

" _Ugh,_ Himiko _."_

" _What's up, Shiga?"_

" _I've been trying to figure out what character archetype you fit into, but I'm drawing a blank apart from 'batshit crazy.' What's your deal?"_

" _I'm not really all that complicated. I'm happy as long as I can fall in love over and over again. It makes my heart pound and gives me a rush like nothing else does."_

" _So why are you so attached to me?"_

" _Shiga, you've got, like, a bunch of different sides to you and I never know which one I'll see next. Sometimes you even seem like a different person altogether! It keeps you interesting and makes you special. It's why I like you the best. That and you usually smell like blood. Just don't get jealous if I do a little window shopping from time-to-time, okay?"_

She was bizarre, that much was for sure. But, when she wasn't literally out for blood, Tomura had to admit that she wasn't so bad to have around.

Kept Kurogiri happy, anyway.

"Shiga? You fall asleep on your feet or something?"

Himiko was trying to peer around Father's hand and see if his eyes were still open or not, which was tough since she was a few inches shorter than him.

"No, just thinking. You ready to go meet him?"

Kind of a dumb question in retrospect, since she was clearly fully-dressed. She simply responded with a fanged grin and grabbed his hand, pulling him back in the direction of the stairs.

Before they reentered the bar, Tomura made sure to take the drawing gloves off again. Upon his reentry, he saw that Kurogiri was once again behind the bar and chatting with the Hero Killer, who was nursing a glass of some clear drink and sporting some new bandages.

"Alright, I've brought her up. Hero Killer, meet Toga. Toga, Hero Killer."

Stain glanced over at Himiko, who had, surprisingly, not immediately dashed over to him. Tomura was momentarily impressed with her apparent restraint until he realized that she was simply taking a long, deep breath and practically vibrating with excitement.

"OhmygodStainI'vewantedtomeetyouforsolong!"

 _There she goes._

Himiko was walking rapidly towards the bemused man, shooting off questions one after the other without waiting for a response.

"Are those bandages? Were you hurt? Was it from fighting a Hero? Which one? Did you kill them? Is there blood? Do you like clamato juice?"

Kurogiri had a minor coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like restrained laughter and Tomura once again found himself wondering what the deal was with the clamato juice. She had suddenly become interested in it a week or so ago and Kurogiri wouldn't tell him jack.

"It was Ingenium, Toga-san. Remember? We read the article." Kurogiri supplied once he could speak normally.

"Yes," Stain confirmed, latching onto the break in the verbal bombardment, "these wounds are from Ingenium. I would have killed him, but his team intervened at the last moment and I had to make my getaway."

"Yeah, being outnumbered sucks." Himiko sympathized, "I've been interrupted a few times myself, so I know how you feel."

Stain nodded noncommittally and then turned his attention on Tomura.

"What do you want from me?"

"Hmm?" Tomura feigned confusion.

"You brought me here, patched me up, gave me something to drink and I think Kurogiri is cooking something too. You don't strike me as the kind of person to do this for no reason. So, what do you want?"

"For now, nothing." Tomura responded honestly, "I won't say that I'll _never_ have something that you might be able to do for me, but the plan for today was to find you and get you off the street. You're a reasonably high-level unit and specialized besides. It'd be a shame to let that side quest time itself out."

Stain clearly didn't believe him, so Kurogiri intervened.

"Hero Killer-san, I can assure you that our mission briefing did not include anything about harming or otherwise taking advantage of you. We truly believe that we can build a mutually beneficial relationship. As you can see, we have this humble facility which nevertheless provides us with daily necessities and some degree of comfort, which I'm sure would be a welcome change for you. For now, why not simply rest and recover? We can surely discuss the rest another time and I'm sure you'll be in a better mood after a shower and a hot meal."

"You'll stay, won't you?" Himiko gave Stain her best puppy dog eyes, "Please?"

The Hero Killer was silent for a long moment before draining the rest of his drink and setting the glass back onto the bar with a clack.

"I have to admit, the idea of convalescing in a place with a shower, roof and booze is certainly more appealing than my other prospects. I won't pretend that I trust you, but I will accept your hospitality, at least for the time being. I will not seek to harm you as long as you act in the same manner."

"Yay!"

"No hugging."

"Aww."

Tomura nodded in satisfaction and removed the hand from his face as a show of solidarity, accepting a drink from Kurogiri as Himiko hopped onto the stool between himself and Stain. Yes, everything was going swimmingly so far.

 _After all, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Right, Sensei?_

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Denki Kaminari was feeling pretty good. He had been drop-dead tired after the Sports Festival, so he had spent the remainder of that day and most of the previous day lazing around, resting and watching some of the recordings for parts that he wasn't there for. Midoriya and Todoroki in particular had put on one hell of a show.

"Man, Todoroki was a powerhouse when he was just using his ice. Adding fire to the mix hardly seems fair." he half-heartedly griped to himself.

 ***Vmmm vmmm***

"Huh?"

Denki's phone was vibrating on the coffee table and showing that he had an unread private message. He unlocked it and saw that it was a pair of speakers, presumably Jiro.

 _Huh. She's never messaged me before. Then again, I guess she also wouldn't have had my number before Yaomomo decided that she should create a communal class chat._

The previous day, in response to the difficulty of getting ahold of everyone in Fight Club in a timely manner, Yaoyorozu had taken it upon herself to prevent such an issue in the future by sending everyone in 1-A contact data for the entire class and setting up a general class chat for group announcements and things like that.

Speakers: Hey, Prez. How you feeling? Probably lazing around or something.

Lightning: Lol, pretty much. Arm still hurts a bit, but I'm good. You still deaf?

Speakers: Took the bandages off this morning. Everything's still a bit muffled, but as long as I avoid super-loud noises for another day, I should be fine.

Speakers: Being deaf _sucks_.

Lightning: I can imagine.

There was a long-ish pause in the conversation and Denki wondered if he was supposed to say something else or if she was just done. A new message answered his question for him.

Speakers: So, I wanted to talk to you.

Lightning: Aren't you?

Speakers: About something specific, idiot.

Lightning: O…K?

Speakers: Sorry. It's about Tuesday. The Sports Festival.

Speakers: But I don't want to do it texting or with a phone call.

Speakers: But it's also gonna be tough to get any privacy at school.

Denki thought about this for a moment.

Lightning: How about a video call?

Speakers: …

Speakers: That's actually a good idea. Wow.

Lightning: No need to sound so surprised.

Lightning: You wanna start it or should I?

Speakers: I'll do it, just a sec.

Denki sat up straight on the couch and turned off the TV. He wasn't waiting very long before his phone said that he had an incoming video call request, which he accepted.

Jiro's video feed came in pretty clearly. She didn't seem to be holding her device, most likely having propped it up on some surface or other. She was dressed casually in a short-sleeved shirt from some band or other and judging from the slight bounce whenever she moved, seemed to be sitting on her bed.

" _Hey, Prez. Am I coming through okay?"_

"Yeah. Just took a moment for it to stabilize. How about me?"

" _Yep. I can see your ugly mug just fine."_

Denki was about to act offended, but decided on another approach.

"Yeah, well, I just can't bring myself to say the same."

" _Huh?"_

"I mean, calling a face like yours 'ugly?' That's just a filthy lie."

Denki grinned as his flattery had the desired effect and Kyoka looked away, trying to pretend that she hadn't just turned several shades pinker.

" _W-whatever."_

"What's the matter? You can dish it out but you can't take it?"

" _Hey! What I said was an insult! What_ you _said…"_

"Was the truth. I decided to be the bigger person here, as the Class President should."

" _Sh-shut up."_ she had started twirling one of her earphone jacks around her finger, as she often did when she became flustered. Denki decided that he had embarrassed her enough and sought to get the conversation back on track.

"So, you wanted to talk about Tuesday? What about, specifically?"

Jiro recognized the truce for what it was and latched on to it.

" _Well, it's kind of a combination of things. Obviously, I couldn't hear after the second event, so I was kind of out of the loop on anything…sound-related."_

"Is this about the speech I gave at the end? Because I'm pretty sure they recorded that."

"… _I haven't watched it."_

"Huh?"

" _I haven't watched it yet! I told you I only took the bandages off this morning and after that I more or less texted you right away."_

"…Why?" Denki was absolutely nonplussed. If she had been so curious, then why not watch it as soon as she could?

" _Because there was a lot of stuff that happened before then and I want to get my info in order. I want to…you know…react to it properly. As if I hadn't lost my hearing."_

Denki honestly didn't know what to say to that. He had known on some level that losing her hearing would hit Jiro of all people especially hard, but he hadn't known how much.

" _What are you looking at me like that for? I'm saying I want to hear it from you first, dumbass!"_

"Okay."

"… _Okay?"_

"Okay." Denki cleared his throat, "So…what do you want to know first?"

She thought about that for a moment, a finger scratching her cheek as her eyes flicked from side to side, not really looking at him.

" _The infirmary. After we both got wheeled off during the second event."_

Denki closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and nodding to show that he remembered.

" _You got your hearing back but I was worse. You were taking it pretty hard, probably blaming yourself for it or something. Some of what you said was easy enough to figure out, but you got wordier and…huggier…towards the end. What did you say?"_

Denki remembered how he had felt, seeing his friend and classmate laid low by a massive wave of sound, blood trickling from her ears and tears running down her cheeks.

"You scared me." he said, "I hadn't ever seen anything like what happened to you before. You were in pain and there was blood and you couldn't _hear_ anymore…it was bad."

She didn't respond, giving him her undivided attention and showing an uncommon (for her) level of patience.

"I felt like I should have _done_ something." Denki continued, "I still feel that way, if I'm being honest. It wasn't the first time I've seen a classmate get badly injured, but when it happened to Midoriya I was still really out of it, you know? Even when I try to remember it, it's all fuzzy like a half-remembered dream or something."

"But with you it was different. I was alert and watching and… _present_ in a way that I can't really describe. It all happened so fast but when I think back on it, it's like the memories are playing in slow-motion. I can feel the vibrations of the air, I can see the pain on your face and I can hear you screaming just before all the sound cuts out. It hit me hard, is what I'm saying."

She didn't snark at him, didn't scoff, just nodded.

"So, when we were in the infirmary and I didn't know how it was all going to turn out…I was feeling really guilty. I apologized a bunch and then you told me to get a grip because it should've been _you_ losing it and you were worried that you might not get an internship because you didn't make it all the way through. I think…I think you're _still_ worried about that."

" _Why are you bringing that up?"_

"Because I wasn't about to let that happen. I promised you that I wouldn't lose; that I'd make it to the top and that when they asked me to give some sort of speech or something, I'd tell them that I'd have never made it that far without you. Hearing it from a guy who made it to the finals, they'd have to give it some consideration, right? Hell, you made that even more true when you bailed me out during my match against Shin…so." Denki trailed off as he saw a change come over Jiro, "Hey…you okay?"

A look of sudden realization had come over her face and she blanched as she covered her mouth with one hand, eyes wide.

" _You…that means…so, when you…"_

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Kyoka Jiro's brain had been dialed up to eleven and had the knob ripped off. Suddenly, everything that hadn't made sense to her about Denki's behavior two days ago was thrown into sharp relief. It was all replaying in flashes inside of her head like some psychedelic remix.

All those hits he'd taken.

How he'd sacrificed an arm but then insisted that Recovery Girl not heal it too much.

How he'd staggered out onto the field even though he was practically dead on his feet.

" _I'm trying to say that you've done enough!"_

" _Why not just give up?"_

" _This isn't like you! You're the easygoing goofball that nobody in their right mind would ever imagine as a class rep, but who manages to pull it off anyway."_

" _So…why?"_

 _He didn't say anything for a few moments. It felt like longer._

 _Then the hand that wasn't currently attached to the arm that was in a sling found its way onto her shoulder. He said something, lips barely moving, before squeezing her shoulder and flashing her that paradoxical grin that somehow managed to be dopey at some points and reassuring, even cool, at others._

She felt like she couldn't breathe and when she finally managed to take a breath it felt like she was going to throw up.

"Tell me…tell me what you said when I tried to stop you from going down to fight Bakugo." Kyoka demanded.

Denki was looking at her with concern from her phone, which she had propped up against her alarm clock on her bedside table.

" _Well, that was it, wasn't it? I'd made it to the final round. There was only one thing left for me to do, even if it meant getting beaten up by Bakugo afterwards. I understood why you were trying to stop me, but, well…"_

His next words seem to enter her ears twice. Once from the Denki on the phone and another from the Denki in her memories.

" _I had a promise to keep."_

" _I've got a promise to keep."_

Kyoka had to look away.

He had seriously done it all for her. In the name of a promise that she hadn't even known he had made. He could have called it quits at any point and just never told her about it. There was nothing stopping him from doing that. Nobody would have thought any less of him for it. Nobody would ever have known.

"The speech…" Kyoka was doing everything in her power to stop her voice from cracking, but wasn't completely successful, "…tell me.

Denki was silent for longer than before. Kyoka was about to say something when she heard the sounds of a crowd and a familiar voice echoing as if through a loudspeaker.

" _Actually, yeah. I'd like to say something if I could."_

Kyoka turned involuntarily to look at the phone, only to see that Denki was standing next to his TV and playing a particular part of the Sports Festival recording, arm extended out as far as he could so she could see properly.

" _We all heard what Midnight-Sensei just said, but I need to set the record straight; I didn't make it this far on my own. I had help and plenty of it. Oh, nothing illegal or anything like that, don't worry."_

Kyoka couldn't bring herself to care if he saw the look on her face anymore as she took in every detail of the broadcast that she could. The way the crowd laughed at his stupid joke, the determined look in his eyes, how he stood with his back straight even though he was so obviously exhausted.

" _No, what I'm talking about is actually from the second event. My team placed second overall thanks in no small part to someone who should have been able to participate in the tournament with the rest of us. I'm talking about Kyoka Jiro, the girl who effectively sacrificed herself and ended up unable to continue in order to ensure my team's victory. If she hadn't been there, then I could've been hit full-blast by that trap and I might be in the same position as she is right now. Believe me when I say that she deserves to be here just as much as I do."_

He had done it all in the name of a promise that nobody except him would have ever known about.

It was the stupidest, most reckless, hairbrained, irresponsible, self-sacrificing, amazing thing that anyone had ever done for her.

Being the cynical person that she was, Kyoka briefly wondered if Denki, like some other guys might have, had done all of that because he thought it might help him get in her pants or something. All it took to dismiss that thought was another look at the face that was once again front-and-center on her phone's screen.

She might have believed it of some other guys. Hell, maybe even one or two from her own class.

But not him.

Not Denki.

He just…wouldn't do that.

" _Are you alright, Jiro?"_

"Yeah." she said, rapidly running out of ways that she could seem to rub something out of her eye without seeming suspicious, "I've just…got stuff in my eyes."

She would never had to have known. She could have just been happy for him and the rest of her classmates that had progressed that they had made it so far and gotten good internships, taking them one step closer to their goal of becoming Heroes one day.

But now, instead of just being happy _for_ them, there was a chance that she might still be happy _with_ them.

 _Honestly…what the hell am I supposed to say? "Thank you" hardly covers it._

"…Denki?"

" _Yeah?"_

"You know how sometimes you try to act cool and stuff?"

" _Yeah."_

"Was…was this one of those times?"

" _Honestly…no. Why?"_

"Because I think this is the coolest thing I've ever seen you do. Now do me a favor and fry your brain so that you can forget that you made me cry."

"No 'whey.'"

"…Damn it, Denki."

He was a goof, that much was certain. At first glance, once you got past the surface, you wouldn't think that he was the cool sort.

If you went deeper than that though, you'd find someone who somehow managed to be everything that he pretended to be without knowing it.

He was Kyoka's favorite moron and she hoped that he would never change.

* * *

 **Alrighty, so we ended up not getting to the Midoriya-Uraraka family dinner, but I thought that we might not. The part with the Villains ended up taking more space than I thought it would and I had to spend time digging through past chapters during Denki and Kyoka's conversation so that I wouldn't miss anything.**

 **Still, good times. Also, thanks again for all the feedback on the Hero Names! I feel that there have been a few changes made (detailed up above) that will improve things.**

 **I suppose the question for this time will be more or less the same as last time, since we're closing in fast on the moment when Hero Names become (more or less, since they can change over time) locked-in. Those of you who want to can take the time to read up on my synopsis of the feedback I've gotten and if you have any additional feedback on that, I will of course have a look at it.**

 **Next time, we'll get to the family dinner and we'll also get an answer to the question of just how bad Tensei's injuries are this time around.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	50. Chapter 48: Reaffirmation

**Before we get into it, there is BIG NEWS in the post-chapter Author's Notes, so please read those even if you usually don't.**

 **Without further ado, review time:**

 **Slayer76, The Keeper of Worlds, Constipated Genius, Batmarcus, The Incredible Muffin, Tombs456, StandupSitdown, Ooobserver, inFamousSlyMonkey, The 0bservanc3, Sentinel07 : The general consensus seems to be that I really knocked it out of the park with the DenkixKyoka moment and...that's awesome! I knew that this was going to be a big moment and I'd been planning something like it ever since she lost her hearing during Capture the Flag.  
**

 **uchihaNaruto247, The Keeper of Worlds, Constipated Genius, Batmarcus, The Incredible Muffin, Tombs456, Ooobserver, The 0bservanc3 : I've been really careful with my handling of Shigaraki, since I knew that going too far in one direction or the other would run the risk of Flanderization. I've tried to maintain the sense that he is a dangerous and slightly-unhinged individual, while at the same time still being quite intelligent. All For One didn't raise no fool, after all. It's good to see that people are enjoying him and/or are intrigued by him.  
**

 **Deepthoughts42 : Consider your name dropped and your loyalty thanked.**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r : I lol'ed at the idea of "Facepalm" actually being Shigaraki's alias. It makes him sound like such a lovable, bumbling bad guy.**

 **joshiiman02 and cloudpanda961: The two of you have helped me come up with a new alternative Hero Name for Kyoka: Kyokoro. It's just a portmanteau of Kyoka and Kokoro (which, if anyone didn't know, means "heart"). Simple, but it rolls off the tongue, fits her usage of puns (at least in my story) and I think it's not too bad.**

 **ProjectIceman : Being compared so favorably to the undisputed current number-one MHA fic on the site (by Reviews, Follows and Favorites) is humbling to say the least. I shall strive to maintain a high level of quality.**

 **Constipated Genius : The differences are definitely going to start piling up as we move along. Ripple Effect and all that.**

 **Wan323 : There were a few people who suggested a Sun Wukong theme for Ojiro, and it makes sense, but if I did than then I'd have to have him start using a staff. Maybe in the future when/if his fists finally fail him?**

 **jmartinez8089 : They were surprised because up until that point he had never actually eaten any fire. He couldn't control his Quirk well enough to direct the flames toward his mouth and never had any reason to try. When Iida finds out about Kirishima's indirect role in saving his brother's life, he will most likely be very, very grateful to him. Definitely a scene that will happen at some point.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Yeah, Stain's probably stayed in some really crappy places and Ingenium really did a number on him. He would've won if Stain didn't have god-tier reaction speed. You got it in one: the reason Shigaraki came in full costume was to make an impression. Really, the whole scene was him trying to be impressive.**

 **Recessed lighting is where a light fixture is installed through a hole in the ceiling, meaning that the light bulb doesn't protrude downwards. It makes for a sleeker aesthetic as well as meaning that you don't have to worry about smacking a light bulb if you're dealing with a low ceiling/carrying something/whatever. I have not read that particular story. My idea for the gloves actually comes from Ochako's gloves that she wears when she sleeps to stop herself from floating things/herself. As for the type, well...I'm an artist and have a drawing glove that I use with my tablet.  
**

 **As for Shigaraki's Quirk working on himself...yeah. Like I said, I think it functions similarly to Ochako's except it's inherently harmful. Maybe he won't outright disintegrate himself instantly, but those scars and such on his face and how careful he is when scratching his neck in canon...I think it's a fair assumption. Himiko did indeed deliberately ignore Tomura until he used her given name. As for what sorts of feelings the pair might/might not have for each other...that remains to be seen! Suffice to say that due to her joining the LoV sooner than in canon means they've had longer to develop a bond of some sort.**

 **I would imagine that the video started in Portrait Mode, since that's just a more natural way of holding one's phone, but when Denki was showing Kyoka the recording, it was definitely in Landscape Mode, the better to capture the whole image. When it comes to Hisashi, your theories are definitely interesting, some closer to the mark than others, but I'm leery of giving you any straight answers here, lest you figure out the truth ahead of time. All I'll give you for now is that he is 1) most certainly not dead and 2) he will be playing a significant role in the story.**

 **Hyped, Isamaru, FuryJoe, ILiekFishes, DancingMoose007, Guest, Slackboy101, The Qrow, Scarease and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's see how the Midoriya's are holding up waiting for their guests!**

* * *

Chapter Forty-Eight: Reaffirmation

Izuku Midoriya was freaking out. This was, of course, nothing new for someone like him: he had freaked out about many a thing many a time. It didn't really take much to make him stress about something, which was a trait he was _convinced_ he had inherited from his mother, who was currently whisking around the apartment from place to place and muttering to herself, re-checking and re-re-checking that everything was in place for their guests' arrival.

After all, it was Izuku's girlfriend and her family that would be visiting and Inko wanted the best for her son, which included making a good first impression.

In spite of the Midoriya family's penchant for worrying about things, the overall stress level had actually been fairly manageable up until a couple of minutes ago. The plan had been for the Urarakas to arrive an hour or so prior to dinner time so that Inko and Mrs. Uraraka could prepare it together. Inko had originally planned on doing all of the cooking herself, but Ochako's mother had insisted on doing her share and would be bringing the necessary ingredients over (Ochako had later told Izuku that she had found a killer sale on said ingredients at their local market and was feeling generous).

The shift had happened when Ochako, in a mild panic due to a combination of nerves about meeting Izuku's mother as well as knowing how her news was likely to affect him, had called to tell him that they had finished all of their preparations earlier than expected and that her parents were ready to just head on over if that was alright.

Izuku had said that would be perfectly alright and that they were happy to get more time to get to know each other. When should they expect them?

About fifteen minutes, as of five minutes ago.

This meant that the hour and a half they had still had to get ready had suddenly vanished and the mother-son duo had engaged full-on panic mode.

Izuku knew on an intellectual level that everything was fine and that they had really only taken the morning to get everything ship-shape for their guests, but his natural nervousness combined with his mother's caused him to sink deeper into his old habit of imagining every way things could go wrong.

It proved to be no small mercy that he only had about ten minutes to stew before there was a knock at the door. Izuku, being closer to it, gulped and opened it. Where he had expected to immediately be facing Mr. Uraraka, he instead found himself staring at Ochako, who looked about as anxious as he felt.

"Ah, hi, Deku-kun. Sorry about showing up so early; I tried to convince them not to but, well…"

"What? No! It's not, that is, you aren't…it's fine. Really, I meant what I said earlier, Uraraka-san."

"Izuku, for god's sake let them in!"

"Ah! Right! I'm sorry!" he hastily stood aside and bowed as the man who must have been Ochako's father laughed good-naturedly.

"No worries, no worries! Goodness knows I remember meetin' my wife's family for the first time. I'm surprised you could even form a coherent sentence!" he gave his daughter a gentle push to get her moving and clapped Izuku on the shoulder as he entered the apartment. He was a rather large man, tall and powerfully-built with short, light-brown hair. He certainly fit the image of a man who worked construction for a living, at least in Izuku's opinion.

Mr. Uraraka was followed by a woman who could only have been Ochako's mother. She was the spitting image of her daughter, albeit more mature-looking and with slightly longer hair. She gave Izuku a reassuring smile as she walked past him.

"It may sound like we forced her into this, but Ochako really is very excited about this get-together. She's just a little nervous."

That…actually made Izuku feel a little better. Maybe it was just a mom thing? Having welcomed everyone in, he closed the door and made his way back to the living room where Inko was introducing herself.

"And, of course, you've already met Izuku." she pulled him to her side as soon as he was within arm's reach.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Uraraka-san and Uraraka-san." this got a chuckle out of Mrs. Uraraka. Seeing the confused look on Izuku's face, she elaborated.

"Oh, it's nothing bad. It just seems like it might get a bit confusing with you referring to three people as 'Uraraka-san.' Please, don't feel restricted on our behalf, Midoriya-kun: call Ochako by her given name."

"And if that still gets confusin', feel free to call me 'Dad.'" Mr. Uraraka grinned.

"Daddy!" Ochako huffed while Izuku gaped at him, face reddening as he realized the implications, "We talked about this!"

"Ochako," Mr. Uraraka placed a hand on his chest in an expression of mock-hurt, "I'm not tryin' to intimidate him, I'm just messin' with him a little!"

Ochako gave her father a half-hearted glare and seized Izuku's hand, pulling him away.

"Come on, Deku-kun: I think Daddy needs a moment to get it all out of his system. You can show me your room or something."

"Ochako, no! I'm too young to be a granddad!"

Ochako was every bit as red-faced as Izuku by that point as she half-dragged him towards the hallway. Mrs. Uraraka, meanwhile, was chatting away with Inko as they stashed the ingredients she had brought in the fridge.

"It's really nice to meet you in-person after our talks yesterday, Midoriya-san. And your son seems like such a nice young man!"

"Oh, thank you! Izuku's told me a little about your daughter and from what I've seen from the Sports Festival, she's a very brave girl!"

"You wanna talk about the Sports Festival, I gotta say I remember your son's matches after havin' met him!" Mr. Uraraka chimed in, "He seems so unassumin' in-person that I'd never have guessed he had such a fire burnin' in him. Literally!"

Ochako paused in the middle of the hallway.

"Um, Izuku, which one is yours?"

Izuku came to his senses in time to steer Ochako towards the correct room.

"Heheh, I should have guessed it would be the one with All Might on the door. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I think I could use a breather too."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Ochako Uraraka took a few steps into her boyfriend's room and just…drank it all in for a moment. There was a lot to process, even if most of it shared a common element, that being All Might.

He. Was. Everywhere.

Posters, newspaper clippings, action figures, stationary, his screensaver…nearly every square inch had something All Might-related in it.

 _Well, it makes sense. All Might's his idol, after all._

Ochako realized that Izuku had closed the door and was staring at her anxiously, waiting for some sort of reaction.

"It feels like you." she mirrored his words from when he had first seen her apartment, now understanding what they meant a little better. It was true: at first the room appeared cluttered and even a little chaotic. If someone hadn't known Izuku, they could be forgiven for thinking he was some All Might-obsessed fanboy or even a stalker, but upon closer inspection, one could see that everything was in its place. Books here, figurines there, a set of weights in front of the gigantic poster.

What at first seemed like a cluttered shrine to All Might was actually very focused and purposeful. There was depth, reason and a pure sense of drive that overshadowed everything else in the room. There was also a sense of purity to it; like the person whose room it was had nothing to hide and knew what they wanted.

In short, yes, it felt like Izuku.

"I like it." she clarified, which earned her a small smile.

"Here, have a seat." he indicated the room at-large giving her a choice of the bed, his computer chair or wherever. She sat down on the bed, intending for him to join her and maybe snuggle for a bit, but he took the chair so that he could face her properly.

"Well…" he began, gesturing vaguely with his hands as he tried to find the words, "what do you think?"

"It's a nice place. Your mom seems like a really sweet lady." she responded truthfully.

"Yours too. I was kind of surprised at how much you two look alike."

"Yeah, Daddy likes to joke about that sometimes, saying that she decided to clone herself and just brought him along for the ride."

"He seems…" he trailed off, looking for the right adjectives.

"Obnoxious?"

"I was gonna go with 'dad-like.' He honestly seems like a nice guy and it's obvious that he really cares about you, even from what little I know about him."

"I know." Ochako admitted with a sigh, "They're both great parents, Daddy just gets on my nerves sometimes."

"At least I think I know where your mischievous streak comes from."

That made her blush a little.

"Well, what about _your_ dad?"

She was genuinely curious, but she got the immediate sense that she had done something wrong when his expression became decidedly less cheery.

"I'm sorry!" she hastily apologized, "It's just, I've never heard you talk about him and we were on the topic of parents, so-" he raised a hand, forestalling any further apologies.

"It's fine. Really," he added upon seeing her worried expression, "I understand why you'd ask and I'm not upset or anything. It's not like there's anything _bad_ to say, he just…hasn't really been around since I was little."

Ochako was about to apologize again, but she saw that he wasn't done speaking; just gathering his thoughts.

"My dad's name is Hisashi." he began, "My mom showed me a picture of the three of us from when I was a baby and I definitely inherited his hair," he flicked the untamable poofy mess that resided on his scalp, "though the green highlights are all from Mom: his hair's black."

"Are they…still together?" Ochako did her best to ask a rather personal question in a non-invasive way.

"They aren't divorced, no." he answered bluntly, "According to Mom, he's working overseas. He sends her money each month that more than covers our living expenses, so I know that he hasn't abandoned us or anything like that. It's just…he never calls. Never writes. Never sends an email. Not to me, anyway and I don't like to pry about it with Mom. I'm pretty sure that there are things that she hasn't told me about him, but I guess that's the same with any parent."

Ochako nodded.

"It's just…I don't know him." Izuku shrugged, forearms resting on his knees and fingers loosely linked, "He obviously cares about me and Mom at least a little, or he wouldn't send us money. He wouldn't have left if it hadn't been for his work, so I can only assume he's interested in us. But, at the same time, it's been almost thirteen years since he left. I can't help but think that if he really wanted to come back, he could've found a way by now, you know?"

She wanted to say that she understood. That she knew how he felt.

But she couldn't. Not without lying.

 _Both of my parents have always been in my life, every step of the way. I can't imagine how things would be without either one of them._

"Maybe…maybe that's part of why I want to become a Hero?" he was talking as much to himself as to her at this point, "I don't have any way of contacting my dad, so if I become the number one Hero and he sees me or hears about me, then maybe I can send him a message that way? Show him that he doesn't need to support us anymore and he can come home?"

He shrugged again.

"At the very least, I know it'd make Mom happy. And I'd get the chance to get to know him. Well," he added, "at least when I'm not busy with Hero work, which as the number one Hero would probably be almost all the time. Damn."

Ochako hadn't been entirely prepared for such a candid, heartfelt revelation and she was touched to know that Izuku trusted her enough to tell her such a thing with barely any hesitation. She was contemplating what might be a good way to express her appreciation when the door banged open.

"Alright you two, hands where I can see 'em!" Mr. Uraraka barked as he scanned the room before looking disappointed, "Nothin'? How the heck am I supposed to get blackmail material with you two behavin' yourselves and such?"

"Daddy! Get _out_!" Ochako shoved her father in the chest, causing him to float out into the hall before she slammed the door, locked it and released her Quirk. That there was no telltale sound of her father hitting the ground was a testament to how often she had done something similar in the past.

"They're not doin' anything! Just sittin' there and talkin'!" she heard him half-complain as he made his way back to the pair of mothers.

"Well, now that he's convinced that we aren't up to anything, maybe he'll actually leave us alone for a few minutes!" she griped, "Seriously! What would he have done if we actually _were_ up to something?"

"I'd rather not consider that." Izuku opined.

"Well, why don't you come over here then?" she sat back down on the bed and patted the spot next to her. When he obliged, she did an about-face and plopped herself down in his lap.

"Uh…" Izuku evidently wasn't sure what to do.

"Remember the last time we were in a position like this?" she smirked at him. This evidently jogged his memory enough for him to understand and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. It was almost exactly the same way they had been during their first kiss. Had that really been less than a week ago? It felt like so much longer.

He still seemed hesitant to initiate anything beyond hugging, so Ochako closed the remaining distance and kissed him. It wasn't like the quick one or two she had snuck from him during the past week. She took her time and did her best to savor the moment and judging from the way she felt some of Izuku's tension fade, he was doing the same. Good. That was what this was _supposed_ to be: a private moment between the two of them where they could stop worrying about things for a few minutes.

Eventually, she needed air and broke away, though she stayed in his lap.

"Thanks."

"Huh?" Ochako cocked an eyebrow at her boyfriend, not understanding why he was thanking her for doing something that _she_ had wanted.

"For listening. For helping me calm down. For…I don't know, everything I guess." he rubbed the back of his neck as he puzzled over his thoughts, "You know I worry a lot about, well, basically anything." It wasn't a question, but she nodded anyway, "Well, given that, it's nice to have certain things reaffirmed every so often. The Sports Festival helped reaffirm that I really have gotten stronger, for example. That I'm not just treading water and wasting everyone's time, you know?"

That was definitely something she could relate to. Making it as far as she did and hearing the crowd cheering her on…it had really made her start believing that she could do it. Really, truly do it. Not that she hadn't believed Izuku when he'd told her what he really thought during their trip, but it was nice to know that others believed in her too besides just friends, family and those in-between.

"And," he continued, "things like this," he drummed his fingers on the small of her back, "help to reinforce the idea that you're as happy about our new relationship as I am."

Ochako hummed and rested her head against his chest, prompting him to tighten his embrace again.

No, she didn't mind giving him this type of reassurance at _all_.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Tenya Iida was becoming more familiar with the hospital that was probably healthy. In spite of all of the time he had spent there, however, he was now absolutely certain that none of it had been wasted.

After all, his brother had just woken up.

Tenya and his mother had gone in to see him before, of course, but all that really accomplished was verifying with their own eyes that, yes, he was on the bed and, yes, he was still breathing.

Thus, when one of the nurses shot out of the room and made a beeline for them, only to deliver the good news, the pair had immediately abandoned all else and gone to see him.

Tensei was still laying down, likely at the nurse's request while she went to fetch a doctor, but enough of the sedatives had worn off for his gaze to be somewhat lucid. He obviously recognized them, because he smiled weakly when they approached.

"Mom…Tenya…hey."

"Tensei!" Tenya did his best not to raise his voice, "Are you feeling alright? Is there anything odd?"

Tensei glanced over at his left arm and flexed his fingers, then towards his right and did the same.

"Hands…still working."

This was good. If the hands and fingers were functional, then most likely the rest of the arm was too.

"And your legs?" Tenya prompted.

Tensei was silent for a moment as his brow furrowed.

"Sorry…still numb. Havent…come out of it…all the way yet. Could you…check my feet? I'm trying…to move my toes."

Tenya immediately moved to the foot of the bed and focused on the hill of blankets that covered Tensei's feet. He searched for any sign of movement…

…and then he saw it. A minor shifting of the blankets.

"Yes! Yes, you're moving them, Tensei!"

His older brother sighed with relief.

"Good…for a moment…I couldn't feel…and I got nervous. Messed me up…pretty good…didn't he? Sorry…Tenya. Your older brother…isn't supposed to lose."

Tenya teared up at this.

"It's alright. You're going to be alright, Tensei! Ingenium hasn't fallen yet!" he clasped his brother's hand, feeling his grip. Weak due to the drugs, but steady and unyielding.

"Mother, we should notify Team Idaten." Tenya realized, "They will be most relieved to know that he's going to be alright! Would you stay with him while I make the call?"

"Tenya, calm down." his mother put a hand on his shoulder, "We should wait for the official word from the doctors first, don't you think? Otherwise there might be more questions than answers."

Tensei let out a weak chuckle which turned into a grunting cough.

"Ugh…it hurts to laugh."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

After a little while longer spent cuddling, Izuku had, at his girlfriend's request, told her about some of the various pieces of All Might merchandise he had scattered around his room. A few of them actually had rather interesting stories, if he did say so himself. For instance, the gigantic poster was actually part of a limited run where there had been a printing error which caused All Might's hair to be the wrong shade of blonde. To the right person, it was worth up to thirty times what Izuku (or rather, his mother) had originally paid for it.

All told, the pair managed to kill about an hour between Izuku's tour of his room and various displays of affection before Ochako said that they should probably rejoin their parents in the living room. He readily agreed and they rejoined the adults as they were swapping childhood stories.

"Oh, you should have seen him running around in his All Might onesie! He was just the cutest thing _ever_! Here, I think I have a picture." Inko was gushing over stories from his childhood and the Urarakas seemed quite interested in learning more about the boy their daughter had taken an interest in.

"Say, that other kid in that picture looks familiar." Mr. Uraraka said, scratching his cheek as he tried to place him.

"He's also in the Hero Course, dear." Mrs. Uraraka explained, "He was the winner of the Sports Festival, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Mr. Uraraka remembered, "I thought it seemed like they had a history based on how they talked during their match, but I never would've guessed they went so far back."

"Oh my, yes." Inko beamed, "Izuku and Katsuki have been friends for most of their lives at this point and let me tell you, he idolizes All Might just as much as Izuku does, even if he doesn't show it in the same ways. The two of them have always helped to push each other forward; they even use the same nicknames as they did when they were little!"

"I wonder how long it'll take them to realize we're back in the room?" Ochako whispered in his ear as they sat down on an unoccupied couch.

"We could play it up as though we've been here for a while and see if they buy it?" Izuku suggested, getting a giggle from his girlfriend that alerted the adults to their presence.

"Well, there they are!" Mr. Uraraka laughed, "Think you can tolerate your old man's presence again, Ochako?"

"We'll see, Daddy." she tried to look cross at him but her eyes couldn't frown in the same way as her mouth, "What's for dinner, anyway? You and mom made such a big deal about keeping it a secret."

Izuku was curious to know as well, since his own mother had been equally tight-lipped.

"We~ll," Inko said, drawing out the word with a mischievous smirk, "I remembered how you told me about the impromptu dinner the two of you had during your trip and I thought, why not that? I'm sure both of you are fine chefs in your own right, but you're at least two decades too early to say you've mastered your mother's cooking!" Mrs. Uraraka nodded with approval.

"It just sounded like such a fun idea! Easy on the budget too."

"But that was just us taking two meals and throwing them together in a bowl!" Ochako protested.

"Honey," Mrs. Uraraka laughed, "do you have any idea how many times I've done _exactly_ that over the years? There's nothing wrong with throwing any old something together as long as it's nutritious and tastes good. Plus, this gives the rest of us a chance to try it too!"

"Hear hear!" Mr. Uraraka contributed, "I've been wantin' to taste your so-called 'tonkatsu-hambagu rice bowl with veggies' ever since you told us about it! Sounds like the sort of thing that'd fill a man's stomach good 'n proper."

"Incidentally," Inko said, glancing at the clock, "I think it's just about time that we got started on that, wouldn't you say, Uraraka-san?"

"It's a bit earlier than we originally planned, but I don't see why not, Midoriya-san." Mrs. Uraraka concurred, "We can take our time with it this way."

"Is there anything we can do?" Ochako inquired.

"I appreciate the thought, Ochako-chan, but it's a bit of a small kitchen. I'm afraid two people is about the limit if we don't want to be constantly running into each other." Inko declined with a grateful smile.

"If you two want to do something, then why not help your father when it's time to set the table, Ochako?" Mrs. Uraraka suggested.

"Okay!" Ochako agreed enthusiastically, happy to have some way to help.

Once the two women were fully occupied in the kitchen, Mr. Uraraka turned his gaze on Izuku. His expression was friendly, but Izuku got the distinct impression that the man was sizing him up. They sat like that for a good several minutes, Izuku staring back at the man and Ochako with a nervous grip on his hand.

"So, you like my daughter, do you?" he said plainly after enough time had passed. Izuku forestalled any protest on Ochako's part by patting her leg, trying to signal that everything was fine.

"I do, sir." Izuku made a conscious effort not to break eye-contact.

"Hmm. Do you like any other girls, son? Some little hottie from one of your classes, maybe?"

"Daddy-"

"Let him answer, Ochako." Mr. Uraraka was serious about this.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't find any other girls attractive, or that I don't get along fairly well with some of them." Izuku admitted, "But I don't feel the same way about any of them as I do about Ochako."

"Is that a fact? You sound awful sure."

"I'm as sure as I can be." Izuku replied, "Can I say with one-hundred percent certainty that my feelings won't ever change? Of course I can't. I'm fifteen, my Quirk isn't future-sight and I'm going into a field with a higher-than-average mortality rate. I can't say for certain what the next year will bring, let alone the next decade or the rest of my life. What I _can_ say is that I care very much for Ochako and would never knowingly do anything to hurt her." Mr. Uraraka raised an eyebrow, which prompted Izuku to continue.

"I know what type of answer you're probably looking for. If it was my daughter, I'm sure I'd want to know the same thing, but the fact of the matter is that I can't honestly give you that answer and I'm not going to kid either one of us by just telling you what you want to hear. You might not like my answer and it might sound like I'm trying to weasel out of something but…there it is."

Izuku was sure that Ochako was staring at him, but he didn't break eye-contact with her father. The two studied each other for a long moment before the older man sighed.

"You're right. I might not like it. But I'll tell you what, son: I do respect it. You can't do me much fairer 'n you just did, not without lyin' or brown-nosin' an' I ain't got the time or patience for either." he stood up and held out a large hand. Izuku rose and shook it, "I'm willin' to give you a chance, boy. I figure my daughter's a smart girl and she knows what she sees in you. That's what matters." his grip tightened then, "I know she ain't some fragile flower what needs protectin' from the world, but all the same, don't you ever do anythin' to hurt her, or we'll be havin' words."

"That," Izuku said, "is definitely something I can promise you."

"Good, now let's go see about that table. I think I smell somethin' tasty."

* * *

 **I think that went well. I had a good idea how the chapter would go overall, it just took me a bit to figure out how I wanted to get it started and then it practically wrote itself.**

 **Now, as I said up top, BIG NEWS. Please give this a read, even if you usually don't. It's kinda long, but it really is important.**

 **I've said before that I didn't expect Torchbearer to become as big as it has, especially not as quickly as it has. 2,204 followers in about 13 months. That's an average of about 5.78 new followers _every single day_. In terms of reviews, we've actually broken into the Top 10 MHA fics on the site.**

 **Basically, what my thousands (and, holy shit, I can say that literally) of fans have shown me is that, not only are there people out there who like my work enough to read through it, but a lot of them actually want to see _more_.**

 **You know what? I want to give them that. I want to give YOU that. I want to build on this relationship that we have here and I want to give all of you more of a voice in what I'm producing.**

 **So I'm making a Pat_reon (Can't believe they're actually censoring that) with an intended go-live date that will (barring any technical difficulties) correspond with the release of Chapter 50 of Torchbearer, which at this point is slated to be July 28th. The name will be released when we go live in case I decide to change it before then.  
**

 **Let me start by explaining what this is NOT.**

 **This is _NOT_ me attempting to monetize Torchbearer or gating it behind a paywall. Torchbearer will remain free, updated bi-weekly and hosted on the fine site of FFNet. Torchbearer will remain a primary project of mine until such time as it is finished (which isn't happening anytime soon, believe you me). I will still be reading and responding to reviews, PMs, etc.  
**

 **What this IS is me taking a new avenue of producing and sharing content (not all of it written, either!) with my fans on a regular basis and trying to support myself with it. If I hit my goal, I am fully-prepared to make producing content my full-time job and to keep doing it until it's time to retire.**

 **So, what can you guys get out of this? Well, I have a beta version of my tier list for your perusal and I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK. This is meant to appeal to my fans and that means YOU! You can let me know what you think via review, private message or ghostly writing that spontaneously appears on my wall.**

 **The format i:**

 **Tier - Cost -**

 **Blurb**

 **(Explanation of what the blurb means)**

 **Free - $0 -**

 **Not technically a tier, but things that are visible to everyone regardless if they're a Patron or not. I will be posting previews of upcoming chapter releases in the form of a small chunk of text. Maybe it's a quote, maybe it's a paragraph, maybe it's a hook designed to get people interested in my original works. Plus, obviously, the artwork that I've designed for the page is viewable by everyone.  
**

 **Match - $1 -**

 **A small flame, but one that is vital for spreading the blaze. You can see all monthly Beacon posts and bonus content related to Torchbearer. Additionally, you gain access to the -exclusive Discord server and can vote in all polls (that do not specifically apply to a different tier), which gives you a say in the types of content that I produce. You also gain my eternal gratitude.**

 **(Beacon is the $100 club, so once you get to their blurb you'll understand what this means. Bonus content for Torchbearer includes most if not all future omakes, light novel-esque artwork that I plan on producing for each chapter and even a possible Audiobook adaptation, released chapter-by-chapter. The Discord-exclusive server and polls are exactly what they sound like.)**

 **Candle - $5 -**

 **A stable flame that provides illumination to those around it. Some of them smell nice too. You have all of the nice things from the previous tier, as well as the ability to view any side stories, omakes or chapters of non-Torchbearer longer stories.**

 **(The main addition here is the ability to view my non-Torchbearer related work. This means original works or even other fanworks. As of right now, I do have plans on starting an original work that I've been gnawing on for a while. The planned release rate will mirror Torchbearer, meaning one chapter every two weeks.)**

 **Torch - $10 -**

 **A strong flame with many uses, such as revealing secrets or repelling zombies! You get everything from the previous tiers, but you also get some behind-the-scenes stuff too, including monthly anecdotes about how/why I came up with certain things, character notes, the occasional Ask Me Anything, stuff like that. You'll have access to a $10+ Discord channel where you can discuss what sorts of things you'd like to see. Starting with this tier, you also get acknowledged by name whenever I thank my Patrons in my work (which will be quite often).**

 **(Pretty self-explanatory I think. You get to get inside my head a little and the monthly anecdote/whatever I release for my $10 supporters will be based on what you all decide as a group. If there are several small/simple things, then I might cover multiple topics in a single month.)**

 **Brazier - $20 -**

 **A bed of hot coals that burns fuel into powerful flames that shine brightly and provide warmth to those around them. They can cook stuff too! You get all the perks from the previous tiers, plus you have the option of participating in a monthly tabletop-style game that I will personally host for you! Current offerings include Pathfinder, D &D 5e and NetBattlers, but I am open to learning more systems. Don't know how to play? I'm willing to help you learn! If we end up with a large number of people in this tier, we will break them up into groups and host separate sessions over the course of the month.**

 **Alternatively, if the gaming thing doesn't appeal to you, I will produce art for you with the frequency varying by the complexity of the desired piece. Draft-quality linework = 1 month. Finished linework+tone = 2 months. Full color+shading = 3 months. Other factors, such as there being a bunch of characters or a non-simple background may also increase production time. Examples of each stage of work are visible in the Discord and you can always discuss the work with me there.**

 **(I think this is pretty cut-and-dry too. You have the choice of either being part of a monthly gaming group hosted by yours truly or having me draw stuff for you, with how many months your drawing takes depending on the complexity of said drawing and what stage of completion you want it at. There will be examples of my work provided, so you'll know you're not just getting stick figures.)**

 **Beacon - $100 -**

 **A mighty flame that guides those who behold its majesty. You have all of the desirable things from the previous tiers, of course. In addition, I will write one thing of your choosing every month (provided that it doesn't violate Pat_reon's rules or is something that I'm not comfortable doing). It can be an omake for an ongoing store, a one-shot, a deep-dive into some lore for one of my worlds/characters...pretty much whatever. Plus, I'll tell anyone who asks that you're just...super awesome.**

 **(This is the thing being referenced in the Match tier up above. You literally get to command me to write one bonus thing per month, per Beacon, within reason. Obviously I can't crap out a novel in a month while still doing my other stuff.)**

 **It's worth remembering that not only does each successive tier get their own things, they ALSO get all the things from the previous tiers. Once you get into higher tiers...that's a lot of stuff!**

 **So, how much stuff am I actually planning on producing a month? Up until I hit my goal (after which point my productivity levels essentially DOUBLE) I am planning on producing: At least 1 piece of bonus Torchbearer content per month, 1 chapter of an additional long work every 2 weeks, 1 behind-the-scenes type post which may contain multiple anecdotes per month, as many additional pieces of work/game sessions as the number of Braziers and Beacons demands.**

 **I may produce more depending on my workload for a given month (and given the chance I _will_ ) but I'm trying to make sure I don't over-promise. Let me know what you think! If you have any suggestions for what might be some better tier benefits that I may not have thought of, PLEASE TELL ME. If you have a particularly long or detailed line of questioning, a PM might be the way to go.**

 ***Breathes***

 **Next time, the long-awaited Hero Internships get announced and Hero Names are chosen! What will be the same? What will be different? What have some people been predicting ever since I first posted the description to this story in Chapter 1?! Find out!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	51. Chapter 49: Hero Names

**I'm excited. Are you excited? I hope you're excited, 'cause I am.**

 **Review time:**

 **avidreaded, ProjectIceman, Batmarcus, ILiekFishes, Sentinel07, MarvelNinja10, Ooobserver, The 0bservanc3 : I'd like to kick things off by thanking everyone who gave feedback on the Pat_reon, whether you're planning on donating or not. For those who are concerned about not being able to donate much, don't worry about it. No matter how much or how little, I will be immensely grateful for any and all support, just like I've been from the very beginning. Plus, I made sure that all patrons would get access to all bonus Torchbearer stuff starting at the $1/month level, since I knew that a lot of supporters would be coming from here and wanted to prioritize you guys.**

 **And hey, if you can't donate right away, it's no problem. I intend to keep doing this for a long time to come, so I'll be here when you're ready. I appreciate every form of support you guys give, whether it's monetary or not. For those who are worried about me burning myself out/not being able to meet deadlines, I do appreciate the concern and have given this some real thought. The fact that it's different kinds of work will help keep everything fresh. The only potential problem I can foresee is if the higher tiers get crazy popular, necessitating more individualized work each month, but hopefully by the time that's happened I'll have reached my goal and I'll be doing this full-time anyway, which essentially doubles my production capabilities.  
**

 **Constipated Genius, Slayer76, Batmarcus, D3lph0xL0v3r, The Incredible Muffin, The 0bservanc3 : I'm pleased that people enjoyed Mr. Uraraka. He always struck me as a nice, cheesy type of dad. I do recognize that Izuku's stance on his relationship with Ochako is a very mature one for a fifteen year-old to have and I'm glad that it wasn't TOO jarring for anyone. He's always been mature for his age when it comes to certain things and his high level of intelligence lends itself well to that.  
**

 **Constipated Genius, Mrguy22594, The Keeper of Worlds, Sentinel07, Ooobserver, Tonlor, inFamousSlyMonkey : It's always gratifying to know when I do well on relationship stuff/fluff, since I've seen how cringey it can be when done poorly. I generally just try to make things feel natural and not force certain points. The characters will tell me when they're ready/feel like doing certain things and I trust my gut on that. Thankfully, that seems to be working well so far.  
**

 **Constipated Genius : Tensei's improved condition will definitely cause some differences, both where Tenya is concerned and otherwise. As for your other prediction, well, see the end of the chapter XD**

 **ProjectIceman : When the relationship reveal finally happens, I'm sure that reactions will run the gamut from "Wait, what?" to "Well, _duh_." I do have some plans in place for certain characters in regards to that, though.**

 **Reverseflash : I agree completely. It's nice to see a mixture of old hands and new blood in the review section. You are correct that the growth rate of the fic has been variable throughout it's progress, I just averaged everything for the sake of simplicity. I do still tend to get at least 2-3 new followers every day, sometimes more, which is always nice. As for precisely when this fic will end, I'm not completely certain. I do intend to see the story all the way through, which will of course be impacted by how long canon goes for, but it's taken us fifty chapters and slightly over a year just to get to the first internships, which isn't quite up to chapter fifty of the manga. Needless to say, there's a long way to go yet and I intend to enjoy it every step of the way!**

 **Superf7n Guy : I also found it kind of weird that canon! Izuku didn't study some form of martial art or seemingly practice all that much before he met All Might. With time and dedication, he could have potentially reached Eraserhead's level, albeit without the Quirk, which is nothing to sneeze at. I truly believe that, when it comes to general badassery, quite of a few of the U.A. students have a lot of potential. Even in canon, Izuku's outright refusal to _stay down god damnit_ would probably make him a pretty scary dude if we ever saw him from anyone else's perspective, let alone Torchbearer! Izuku who won't stay down and is also _on fire_. ****As for whether or not my version of Izuku will change his Hero Name, that remains to be seen, but if you squint, you'll probably see my stance on the issue explained in this chapter.**

 **ChaseRyans123 : Thank you! I honestly didn't like a few of the characters, Shoji and Kaminari among them, quite as much before I started writing this, but after spending more time with them, I love them to pieces! As for the pairings, it more or less happened exactly as you say: I would start writing an interaction and, much to my surprise, find that certain characters just have really good chemistry with each other, which is how you get unusual pairings like ShoTooru. As for your Hero Name suggestion, that is a popular option, so I do address it in the chapter. I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **The 0bservanc3 : I see that WLiiA reference. Inko's thing was meant to be of the good-natured motherly variety since, as you say, she knows Izuku might lock himself into a conversational loop. It's actually the males with the Y chromosome, so that'd mean that the X she inherited from her mother is strong, at least appearance-wise, compared to the X from her father. As for the dad jokes, I'm sure each culture has their own variety. Dad-ness knows no bounds!**

 **I would imagine that Mr. Iida Senior is working or something, yes. We've never been properly introduced to him in the story and I didn't feel like coming up with a new character just for that, plus he was absent in canon too. Ingenium isn't down for the count just yet, though as you say, it'll be a bit before he's back in the saddle. As for the shade vs hue thing, I'm not totally sure on any of that. My knowledge of color as a whole is pretty limited apart from the basic basics, like warm vs cool tones, making certain things pop, etc.**

 **uchihaNaruto247, Scarease, Shiranai Atsune, Guest, Revvv47, storyficsmith, AutumnXIIIRain, creativesm75, Gwynbleidd99 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's get in to the much-awaited beginning of the internship arc!**

* * *

Chapter Forty-Nine: Hero Names

Izuku Midoriya was looking forward to going back to class. Most high schoolers would probably have been griping about how they had to go back to class on a Friday and wouldn't it have been easier to just make the two-day break a three-day break and various other exclamations of teenage irritation. Then again, most high schoolers weren't training to become Heroes, so perhaps they could be forgiven for not being quite as into it as the Hero-in-training.

"You're early, Deku. Can't blame you, I guess; you weren't even able to make the club meeting this week. I'd probably be going a bit stir-crazy too."

Kacchan may have played it cool, but Izuku knew that he was just as eager for classes to resume, if not more so, given that he was sure to get a ton of internship requests. The pair made small talk on the way to their train and boarded without incident. Once they had gotten themselves situated, Kacchan gave Izuku a once-over and gave him a half-smirk.

"You don't look quite as much like shit as you did last time I saw you. You were able to make it to Recovery Girl over the break, then?"

"Yeah, I actually got to her the day after the Sports Festival. I feel a lot better now."

"I bet." Kacchan snorted, "Don't suppose anything else interesting happened? Other than the small club meeting on Wednesday, my break was boring as hell."

He was clearly expecting something along the lines of "yeah, mine too." What he got, however, made his head snap around.

"Well, actually, Uraraka-san came to hang out yesterday."

 _Yeah, all three of them._

"…Oh." Kacchan was very obviously surprised as rendering him speechless was a difficult prospect at the best of times. He blinked once or twice before beginning to nod his head slowly.

"Yeah, that makes sense, actually."

Izuku's heart skipped a beat. Had Kacchan figured him out? He had, truth be told, always expected his best friend to be the first one to put two-and-two together regarding his relationship with Ochako, so it had only been a matter of time after Shoji had discovered their secret. Still, this was fast, even by Kacchan's standards.

"She was hit pretty hard after USJ, so it makes sense that seeing you with similar-looking injuries would get her riled up, even if they weren't nearly as bad. She's an emotional sort, so even if she knew that you'd be alright, she'd probably still worry about it. My guess is she called you and you ended up inviting her over or something, right? Hell, she probably got along great with your mom."

Izuku nodded dumbly, causing Kacchan to let out a satisfied huff at having "correctly" interpreted the situation.

 _I mean, to be fair, that_ is _sort of what happened. Minus meeting her parents and the mini make out session._

 _Should…should I tell him?_

Izuku, in spite of the steadily-increasing number of secrets he was keeping, did not enjoy keeping secrets, especially from those close to him. However, he and Ochako had agreed to keep things on the down-low for a while and it hadn't even been a _week_ since then.

"Say, aren't you two…"

Fortunately, he was spared further thought on the subject by a commuter who seemed to recognize them.

"Hey, yeah! You two boys are from the Sports Festival on Tuesday! Nice going, I've got to say. You were both really impressive!"

"Whoa, no way! It's Midoriya and Bakugo from the Freshman division!"

"Bakugo? Isn't he the one who won the whole thing?"

"He sure did! Midoriya was no slouch, though. He would've faced off against Bakugo if it wasn't for his match with Endeavor's kid before that one."

"Yeah, I wonder how that would've gone?"

"Either way, he gave a nice speech, wouldn't you say?"

"If you're talking about speeches, you can't forget that Kaminari kid! My wife teared up a bit at that one."

By the time the two got off of the train, the general buzz had spread throughout the car they were in with students and salarymen alike reminiscing about the highlights of the Sports Festival. Kacchan took the attention with good grace, save for his usual scowl, which was really more of a neutral expression where he was concerned. Izuku, on the other hand, found the whole experience to be rather stressful. He had become steadily more comfortable with large crowds, but having so much attention focused on him when he wasn't expecting it still felt strange.

Suffice to say that it was a relieved Izuku who exited the train and proceeded to the locker room with Kacchan. Along the way, they were hailed by a familiar voice.

"Midoriya-san! Bakugo-san! Good morning!"

The pair turned to see Iida jogging towards them, seemingly in high spirits.

"Iida-san, good morning!" Izuku greeted him, about to ask how his brother was doing before hesitating, wondering if it might be a tactless move.

"Yo, Iida. Saw on the news that your brother got pretty fucked up. He still alive?" apparently, Kacchan had no such reservations.

"Blunt as always, Bakugo-san." Iida looked like he was about to reproach the blond bomber before he smiled in spite of himself, "He actually woke up just yesterday. It was touch-and-go for a while there, but the doctors think he'll make a full recovery."

Izuku exclaimed in happiness at this while Kacchan said that it would take more than that to retire a Pro Hero like Ingenium. The three bantered all the way to room 1-A and found most of their classmates already there, talking excitedly about having been recognized on their way to class that morning. Apparently the Sports Festival had done a lot for all of them in terms of exposure, particularly those that did well in the tournament. Kaminari in particular looked as though he had been hit over the head with something, prompting Jiro to make fun of him, saying that he looked like he had overused his Quirk.

Izuku immediately noticed that there was a new student sitting at the desk behind him. A very familiar, indigo-haired student.

"Shinso-san? What are you doing here?"

The tired-looking young man gave him a wave and a grin.

"I'm starting to think I should've deliberately shown up right on time so I'd only have to answer that question once. I got accepted into the Hero Course. Got tested by Aizawa and everything."

"That's great!" Izuku was very happy for the other boy, who he had gotten to know a little while watching the matches during the Sports Festival and, while he had a sarcastic personality, was likeable enough, "Kacchan, why don't you look surprised?"

"Because I know already, dumbass. He joined the club too. Even got a ceremonial beating from yours truly. Sero, Aoyama, Kirishima, Tokoyami and Ojiro already know too."

Izuku really, _really_ wanted more details on the subject, but at that moment the bell rang and Aizawa entered the room right on cue as everyone scrambled for their seats.

"Morning." he half-yawned, earning a chorus of "Good morning" in return.

"Sensei, are you fully healed?" Shoji inquired.

"Ribbit, it's good to see your bandages off, Aizawa-sensei." Asui concurred.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Aizawa half-heartedly waved his left arm, which was indeed free of its bandages, "More importantly though, we've got an important Hero Informatics class to take care of today."

He gave his students a moment to stew on this announcement, probably knowing full well that many of them dreaded the topic of Hero Law, ethics and various things of that nature, before continuing.

"I'm sure you all remember how I announced that the Sports Festival would produce internship offers based on who the Pros think might have some potential to join the workforce after another two or three years of experience. I'll show you the numbers in a moment, but just know that even if you have offers, don't think that you can rest easy. Any and all offers can be revoked at any time and for any reason."

"On a similar note, if you didn't get any offers, you'll still be doing an internship. There are about forty agencies from around the country who are usually willing to take on interns, so you'll be choosing from a list of those. Now, since you'll be doing official field work alongside Pro Heroes, it's only logical that you have names to use in the field. That's why today you'll be coming up with your own Hero Names."

There was an explosion of energy and noise from the class as everyone started jabbering about how excited they were to finally get cool names for themselves. Aizawa silenced them all with a Quirk-augmented glare.

"I'll display the draft pick totals on the board behind me. As I'm sure you'll notice, there was a good deal of preference given to those who made it to the final event, since that's where your individual strengths really shine."

Aizawa pressed a button and a list of names and numbers appeared on the board in descending order.

Bakugo: 3,146

Todoroki: 2,657

Kaminari: 1,549

Tokoyami: 364

Midoriya: 274

Iida: 256

Shoji: 143

Kirishima: 99

Uraraka: 97

Yaoyorozu: 73

Ojiro: 45

Ashido: 13

Jiro: 6

"Naturally those closer to the top tend to get more offers, though we do have one or two oddities in the lineup this year." Aizawa explained before giving the students a moment to get their reactions out of their systems.

And reactions there were.

"Damn! Just one more offer and I could've broken a hundred! Go figure Bakubro's at the top though, am I right?"

"Todo, look at how many offers you have!"

"It's mostly because of my father's influence. Everyone's clamoring to get their hands on the son of the Number Two Hero."

" **Rrgh, it sticks in my craw that we lost to that guy even though we made it farther than him!"**

"Denizens of the dark often struggle to stand out, so I'd say the results are acceptable."

"Muu…I didn't get that many offers, but I guess I should be happy that I got any, seeing as how I lost in the first round."

"Iida-kun! Look! Look!"

"Yes, it is quite humbling."

"Hey, Jiro, check it out! You got offers!"

It was Jiro's turn to be dumbstruck while Kaminari pointed excitedly at the board.

"I…but…I didn't…" she gave him a look that Izuku couldn't see and said something that he couldn't hear. Whatever it was had the Class President rubbing the back of his neck and blushing slightly.

"Now then," Aizawa got his student's attention again, "in spite of the fact that you've already experienced more than most students your age, seeing the Pros in action and taking part yourselves will still be worthwhile training for you. As such, it's to your benefit to take your Hero Names seriously, even if they're only tentative. If you pick something inappropriate-"

"-then you'll regret it!" a female voice finished the sentence for him as Midnight sashayed into the classroom, drawing all eyes to her in the way that only an attractive, suggestively-clad woman can, "The name you pick now may very well be what the world ends up calling you. If that happens, then you're stuck with it whether you like it or not! Believe me when I say that's happened to plenty of Pros out there!"

"Yeah, that's the long and short of it." Aizawa agreed, "That's why Midnight will be assessing the sensibility of the names you pick out. It's not a rational sort of thing, so I'm no good at it." he retrieved his sleeping bag from god-knows-where before imparting one final piece of wisdom, "Think about the future you see for yourself. Your name will have a powerful effect on how others perceive you, so choose one that you think reflects your true character."

"Right," Midnight clapped her hands once as Aizawa disappeared behind his desk and started passing out autograph boards to the students, "I'm sure you've all thought about this before now, so let's say…fifteen minutes to have your first suggestion ready. Feel free to roam around the room and help each other brainstorm if you want to."

The room was immediately filled with activity as people swiveled in their seats to consult with each other, stood up to walk around or even just thought out loud.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Shoto Todoroki, in contrast to the majority of his classmates, wasn't really giving much thought to his Hero Name. Rather, he was frowning at the number of internship offers that he had gotten in spite of the fact that he was eliminated in the second round of the tournament.

It wasn't as though he thought that his abilities were subpar or that he hadn't made a strong showing, but it still rankled him that he was second only to the overall winner when there had been others with more chances to show off than him. This was especially true given what he was fairly certain the primary reason for at least half of them was: because he was Endeavor's son.

Workplace politics was just as much a part of being a Pro Hero as it was in any other profession, even if the public wasn't privy to it much of the time. The fact that his last name was Todoroki meant that he would nearly always have a foot in the door no matter where he went. The same was likely true for Yaoyorozu and Iida, being from prominent families as well.

That, by and large, was why Shoto wasn't bothering to concern himself with his alias. After all, what did his name matter when everyone was just going to think of him as "the son of the Number Two Hero" anyway? What good was a name when nobody would remember to use it? No, "Shoto" would do just fine for his Hero Name.

Having come to that conclusion, Shoto decided to observe his classmates in order to kill time. It was about a seventy-thirty split as to who was at their desk and who wasn't. It was, he realized, quite the coincidence that so many students had ended up adjacent to their friends. Or maybe it was that they made friends with those they were adjacent to?

…Wow, he must have been bored. Not the bad kind of bored, just the kind where he could zone out a bit and think about whatever. It was a peaceful boredom.

…Which meant that he was due for an interruption anytime now.

"Hey, Todo!"

Bingo.

"What is it, Hagakure?" he asked as the invisible girl propped herself up on his desk with her elbows, a task made easier since she was fairly short.

"Hero Names! What're you thinking?"

"I'll just go with my first name, probably."

"Wha~t? But that's _boring_!" she waved a hand in his face, which really just had the effect of him staring down her seemingly-empty sleeve, "You've got such a flashy Quirk and look at all the offers you got! You need to pick something more impressive!"

"Like what?" he asked, more to humor the girl than because he really intended on altering his decision.

"Off the top of my head, how about 'Freezerburn?'"

"Not my style."

"You didn't even think about it! It's a cool name and it plays off of your Quirk!"

"I don't really care about being cool. To me it sounds more like the sort of name that Kaminari or Sero might pick. It's too in-your-face."

Hagakure was silent for a few moments, though she didn't move from her position on his desk.

"Let's make a deal."

"Huh?" even though Shoto felt that he knew the girl fairly well at this point, she always managed to throw a curveball at him.

Like their impromptu date on Wednesday. Hell if he understood where _that_ had come from, even if it…wasn't entirely bad.

"If you agree to take my suggestions seriously and I end up coming up with one that you like, then I'll let you pick my Hero Name."

"What, just like that?"

"I mean, if it's really, _really_ bad then I guess I'd reserve the right to refuse, but you wouldn't do something like that."

"…I might."

"You won't."

"Try me."

"Sweet! It's a deal then."

…Did she just con him into agreeing with her? He _really_ needed to stop falling for that.

 _Well, I guess it's not all bad,_ he mused as she stared at him with what must have been an extremely focused expression, _what are the odds that she'll come up with something I'll agree to anyway?_

It was a solid few minutes before she spoke again. In the interim, Shoto saw Bakugo turned around in his chair and giving Midoriya a conspiratorial grin as he showed him his autograph board. Midoriya must have expressed concern, because Bakugo waved him off and then gestured across the room to Uraraka, as though using her to support his argument.

"Okay. I've decided." Hagakure said with determination as she snatched Shoto's board and began writing. She passed it back to him face-down when she was done.

"What did you come up with?"

"See for yourself."

Shoto mentally rolled his eyes at how she was trying to make a production out of this and flipped the board over.

"Well?" in spite of her earlier conviction, there was a definite note of anxiety in her voice, "What do you think? I tried to come up with something that still captured your Quirk but wasn't quite as, well…overstated."

Shoto did not respond immediately. Unwittingly or not, he had agreed to take this seriously, so he would examine it from multiple angles before deciding.

… _She really did try with this. It's not the sort of thing she'd usually come up with and she's right that it's more subdued than her earlier suggestion._

"It's better." he admitted, "Definitely better."

But was it good enough? If the name stuck, would he be alright with calling himself this?

Sure. Why the hell not.

"You win."

To her credit, Hagakure did not leap into the air and shout "yay" or some variation thereof, in spite of the fact that she clearly wanted to. Instead, she contented herself with a subdued squeal of delight and a victorious fist-pump.

"Okay, okay. Now it's your turn! Gimme something good, 'kay?" she said as she shoved her autograph board at him.

It didn't take Shoto long to come up with something. She had called his bluff and now she would get something out of it.

"Here." he thrust the board at her without ceremony.

This was one of those times where Shoto wished he could read the expressions on her face. Her body language was plenty expressive, but he really wanted to watch the gears turn this time.

"I love it."

"What?"

"I. Love. It."

Well, this had _not_ been what he was expecting.

"Are you sure? It was only supposed to be-"

"No!" she cut him off mid-protest, hugging the board to herself protectively, "It's mine now! You can't have it back!"

"I…alright. If you actually like it, fine. Good for you."

What sort of monster had he just created?

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

It had been fifteen minutes and Izuku Midoriya was fairly confident in his choice of Hero Name. Honestly, he had come up with a ton of All Might homage names when he was younger, but when he gave it some real thought, there was only one thing it could ever have been.

Kacchan was of a similar mindset with his name, but, well…Izuku had his doubts as to whether it would be allowed. His explosive friend, of course, saw no issues with his name whatsoever and used Ochako as evidence that the small fandom they had already managed to accrue would probably already know him as this anyway.

Well, it would be what it would be. Izuku just hoped that his lifelong companion wouldn't end up disappointed.

"Alright, let's get to it people!" Midnight announced, "Whoever's ready, come on up and show us what you've got!"

The ever-confident Aoyama was the first to saunter up to the podium. He held his board up proudly.

"The Sparkling Hero: Chevalier Etincelant!"

"Oh, I see. It roughly translates to "Sparkling Knight," which gives us some context for your costume." Midnight thought out-loud, "The fact that it incorporates a different language might also help give it some pizazz. I approve!"

Leave it to Aoyama to put his own spin on things. At least it suited him.

"Ooh, me next!" Ashido hopped up and made her way to the front, smacking the bottom of her board against the podium for emphasis, "Pinky: the Alien Queen!"

"Because of the acidic blood, huh? Still, basing your Hero Name off of the monster from a film like that…" Midnight clearly had her misgivings, "'Pinky' has some charm to it though. How about making 'Alien Queen' just a preface and use 'Pinky' as the main name. That way it would be 'Alien Queen: Pinky?'"

"I really wanted 'Alien Queen' to feature more prominently, but I guess I see your point." Ashido agreed and sat back down.

The atmosphere in the room had shifted somewhat. Even though both of the names presented so far had been accepted, they had both been really on-the-nose and more than a little weird. Given who had presented them, this was to be expected, but it still set a precedent that the students were reluctant to follow.

"Ribbit, I'd like to go next. I've actually had this one thought out since elementary school." Asui explained as she took the stand, "The Rainy Season Heroine: Froppy."

"That's adorable! It makes you sound really approachable, so I bet you'll be popular with kids! The rest of you take note: this is an excellent name by any standard!"

With that the mood improved considerably and more students started to approach the stand.

"If we're talking about names that we've had in mind for a while, I'm the Unbreakable Hero: Red Riot!" Kirishima announced.

"Oh, my! Could that be an homage to the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot?"

"Hell yeah it is! That guy is totally my idol. I wanna be the kind of Hero that he was!"

"You do know that taking on the name of someone you admire only adds to the pressure, especially when you call yourself 'unbreakable' like that?"

"I'm ready for that! After all, that sort of pressure is what creates diamonds, right?"

Jiro and Kaminari stood up at almost the same time, but Jiro got to the stand first, throwing the Class President a good-natured sneer.

"Pulse-Pounding Heroine: Kyokoro!"

"Ah, a combination of your name and 'kokoro.' I can feel the beat!"

"Electrifying Hero: Showstopper!"

"How stunning!"

Shoji was up next, speaking through one of his tentacles as usual.

"The Sensing Hero: T.E.N.D.A.R."

"Oh, like R.A.D.A.R., but with tentacles. Hmm…maybe instead of making it an acronym, just go with 'Tendar?' It gets the same meaning across and it also sounds kind of like 'tender,' which might help to offset your intimidating looks."

"I shall take your advice to heart. Thank you, Sensei."

Sero took the stand as Shoji returned to his front-row seat and made the suggested alterations.

"Nothing too groundbreaking from me, I'm afraid. Taping Hero: Cellophane."

"There's no shame in that! Sometimes, simple is better!"

With that allowance having been made, Ojiro and Sato were confident enough to step up to the plate.

"Martial Arts Hero: Tailman."

"Damn! You took my idea! Sweets Hero: Sugarman."

"Those are both fine names!"

Ochako took the initiative and looked nervous, but also pleased.

"I'll admit, this wasn't my first choice of name, but like you said, Midnight-sensei, sometimes you become known by a particular name and you're more or less stuck with it. It's not like I dislike it or anything, so it's fine! The Limitless Heroine: Infinity Girl!"

Izuku felt a swell of pride towards his girlfriend. In spite of what he'd said to her, he knew that she still had some doubts about her worth as a Hero, so to take on a name like that showed that she was putting her best foot forward.

"Right you are! 'Infinity Girl' is a wonderful name!"

Izuku, knowing what Kacchan's plan was, took the stand next.

"The more I've thought about it, the more I realized, sort of like with Kirishima-san and Uraraka-san, that this was always going to end up being my Hero Name. The Burning Hero: Deku."

"Just be careful that it doesn't become 'The Burnt Hero,' Midoriya!"

"Y-Yes, Sensei."

"Alright, that means I'm up!" Kacchan slammed his board down on to the podium, "The Explosive Hero: Lord Explosion Murder!"

There was a moment of silence.

"No."

"What?!"

"No, Bakugo."

"But it's just like with Uraraka and Deku! The name's already out there!"

"It also has 'murder' in it. Besides, weren't you the Villain in that scenario? Pick something else."

Kacchan grumbled to himself as he dropped back into his seat. Izuku wasn't the type to say "I told you so" but, well…he _had_. Truth be told, he already had the beginnings of a plan for an alternative, he just needed to work out a few more specifics.

The next to approach the stand was Todoroki, who was being more or less shoved by Hagakure.

"The Temperature Hero: Celsius." he deadpanned.

"Ooh, both cool _and_ appropriate!"

"I'm really happy with this one!" Hagakure announced as she presented her board with a flourish, "Transparent Heroine: She-Through!"

"So punny! If that's what you want, then go for it!"

Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami approached next, trailed by a nervous-looking Koda.

"The others have inspired me to aim high with my name. I hope to do it justice. The Everything Heroine: Creati."

"How creative!"

"We are the Raven-Black Hero: Nevermore."

" **Damn skippy!"**

"Good to see the decision is unanimous!"

Koda did not speak, but held up his board, which read "Petting Hero: Dolittle."

"It fits, for sure! My, my, this is going very smoothly! All that's left is Iida, Shinso and Bakugo's revision."

"Hey, Kacchan," Izuku got his friend's attention once he was sure of his idea, "I think I've got something."

"Oh yeah?"

"I was thinking about what Midnight said. She was right about Lord Explosion Murder being more of a Villain persona, even if his history wasn't like that. So, what if we expand the canon a bit?"

Kacchan was officially giving Izuku his undivided attention.

"The result of the Battle Trial fight was that Vertigo's monster and Lord Explosion Murder were defeated, right? Since Dr. Vertigo himself was already gone, that would've left a power gap. What if Lord Explosion Murder was able to get help and then returned with the idea of taking control of Dr. Vertigo's criminal organization so that he could curb their more dangerous plans or even put them to work for the forces of good? Like an Antihero."

"He'd have to rebrand." Kacchan nodded, seeing where Izuku was going with this, "So he'd have a new name without throwing away what came before."

"Exactly! Plus, it fits with your secret identity as the leader of the you-know-what."

"Have I told you lately that I like how you think, Deku?"

"Gotta be good for something, don't I?" Izuku gave a sarcastic grin as Kacchan turned back around and started writing with renewed vigor.

"I think I've got something." Shinso stood up and began making his way to the front, "I haven't had as long to think about it as most of you, so it's probably not that good, but, well…" he trailed off as he flipped his board over, clearing his throat, "Glib Hero: Mockingjay."

"Ah, I see." Midnight looked interested, "It describes your style without giving too much away. When you get the chance, you should see Power Loader about getting you some gear, even if a full costume might take a bit longer to produce."

"I'll wear my gym clothes for the time being." Shinso confirmed.

"Well, I suppose I'm up." Iida took the stand, looking a bit more serious than usual, which was quite an achievement, "I had to do some research to find the appropriate word, which is why it took so long. Honestly, I should have seen this coming and done my homework before now. My apologies." he flipped over his board, "Armored Speedster: Callidum!"

"I'm…afraid I don't get it." Midnight was stumped, "It's definitely a cool-sounding name and it seems to share roots with 'Ingenium,' but I'm not familiar with the meaning."

"Both are Latin." Iida confirmed, "It might be simpler if you thought of Ingenium as meaning 'ingenius' or something thereabouts, while Callidum means 'clever' or 'canny.' It's essentially a lesser version of Ingenium, as I have yet to reach those heights. The name may one day be mine, but while my brother still holds the title, I shall not lay claim to it."

"It certainly sounds like a name that you can be proud of, then!"

"Thank you, Sensei."

"Alright!" Kacchan stood up again, confidence redoubled, "Best for last!" he repeated his earlier performance, slamming the board down on the abused podium, "Godfather of Explosions: the Baku Don!"

"It still sounds a little shady, but I guess no moreso than Gang Orca and at least it doesn't have 'murder' in the name this time." Midnight mused, "I'll approve it!"

"Fuck yeah!"

"Watch it."

"Yes, Sensei."

"Hey, Aizawa! Wakey wakey~" Midnight poked the sleeping bag with her foot, earning an annoyed grumble in response, "They're done already, so you're up!"

"That was barely even a nap…" Aizawa complained as he rose to his feet once more and slapped a stack of papers onto the podium, "Well, quick decision-making is a rational quality for a Hero to have, so I guess it's fine."

"Anyway, those of you who were drafted will each be getting a personalized list of your offers. You'll get your pick of the litter for who you want to intern with. Those of you that weren't drafted will be getting a list of those forty agencies that I mentioned earlier and you get to pick from among those. It should go without saying, but each hero has a different specialty and region of operation, so make a logical decision that suits your goals. Your choices are due on Monday."

"No way! We've only got two days to think about it?!" Sero exclaimed.

"Like I said: Quick decision-making is a rational quality for a Hero."

The lists were passed out and Izuku thumbed through his, marveling at how many Heroes that he recognized were interested in him. Then he saw one name that made him stop dead in his tracks.

Endeavor Hero Agency.

…Well then.

This was going to be something to think about.

* * *

 **Fun fact about those draft numbers: I added the total from canon together and redistributed it to make these new ones, so the total number of offers is the same.**

 **We're getting closer to the go-live date for the Pat_reon, which is still slated to be Sunday, July 28, 2019. I'll probably submit it for review the evening of Saturday, July 27th just to make sure the delay is minimal. The name of the page will be revealed with the release of Chapter 50 on Sunday morning, but I know you guys are smart, so it wouldn't surprise me if one or two of you figured it out before then.**

 **This is something that I didn't announce last time, but I will have a wave of Day Zero content ready to coincide with the launch of the page. This will include light novel-style artwork for Torchbearer Chapter 1: A Mother's Prayer along with an audiobook recording of the same chapter, the first chapter of ContRact, which is my original work and the first monthly behind-the-scenes anecdote. This is designed to give early supporters something to enjoy instead of having to wait for the first regularly-scheduled posts. The Discord will, of course, also be up and running (it actually already is, I'm just organizing some stuff and haven't invited anyone to it yet).**

 ** **I'm excited. Are you excited? I hope you're excited, 'cause I am.****

 ** **Next time, we'll get to see the results of some of the internship picks and, depending on how things go, maybe even the beginning of the internships proper, though several of you have already guessed what's going on with a certain flaming protagonist.****

 ** **And as always, thank you for reading!****


	52. Chapter 50: Thinking Big

**We've hit another big milestone here: Fifty chapters in and still going strong. When I think back on all that writing, it sure does feel like a lot. Then I look forward to how much is yet to come and laugh at myself for thinking that. Of course, there's another big thing I've been hamming up lately that coincides with the launch of this chapter, which I will go into in the post-chapter Author's Notes.**

 **Review time:**

 **Constipated Genius, Tonlor, The Keeper of Worlds, D3lph0xL0v3r, Solofknight, DancingMoose007, Ooobserver, Slayer76, The Incredible Muffin, The 0bservanc3, inFamousSlyMonkey : It's great to know that a lot of you like the Hero Names, changed or otherwise. Quite a few enjoyed the ShoTooru moments as well, which comes as no surprise since those are always fun to write!  
**

 **Gwynbleidd99, uchihaNaruto247, Solofknight, Ooobserver, The Incredible Muffin, The 0bservanc3 : Several of you are looking forward to the internships and I gotta admit, so am I. This is one of the arcs that I've had plans for ever since I first started writing this and I'm stoked to finally get to them!  
**

 **Dark White Fang : The Baku Don will indeed need his minions and I've got a thing or two cooked up for that.**

 **Constipated Genius : We will definitely be getting a better look at what's going on with Ingenium. I certainly didn't ham him up with the intention of having that be the last we ever see of him. We're starting to get into the territory where the changes caused by the ripple effect are getting large enough to become significant and impactful on a much larger scale.**

 **Superf7nGuy : No worries, I didn't take it that way at all! I actually have a plan for Izuku's "BURN!" battlecry that coincides with his character/Quirk development. Thank you for the high praise regarding my writing abilities as well!**

 **the_narr_master : I most definitely realize that Bakugo needs a new costume to coincide with his new moniker. If only he could intern under a Hero who's known for his image... It's also funny that you mention expanding Fight Club a bit. This chapter might have something for you regarding that.**

 **Batmarcus : Happy Belated Birthday! I never really plan on Tooru manipulating Shoto the way she does, it just kind of _happens_. We'll find out more about some of the internship picks this time and I hope to count you among my patrons!**

 **StorySmith405 : The main reason Izuku's name didn't change, apart from it being so iconic, is because he actually likes it more than he did in canon due to it not having any negative connotations for him this time.**

 **avidreaded : Shoji's acronym is pretty much a straight rip of RADAR, which stands for RAdio Detection And Ranging. TENDAR stands for TENtacle Detection And Ranging in reference to his strong sensory capabilities.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Izuku and Katsuki travel to school together since they live close to each other, so he was walking/riding the train with him. I do have a plan or two in place for Katsuki's reaction to the eventual relationship reveal, even if they're not fully-formed yet. I try to avoid making concrete plans too far in advance since the characters have a way of surprising me.**

 **I will say that there's more going on with Tenya than meets the eye. He's in a better state than canon though, to be sure. Tensei/Fuyumi, huh? Honestly not a ship I've heard of before, though I guess it could work. They're both kind, caring individuals who come from Hero families, so they have some common ground. Izuku does indeed have a knack for overthinking things to the point where he misses the obvious.**

 **Dark Shadow is actually talking about Shoto when he references "that guy" because Shoto got more offers than Tokoyami even though Tokoyami made it further in the tournament than Shoto did (Shoto went down in the second round while Tokoyami made it to the semifinals). Midnight definitely has some good PR with how well-known she is and I would guess that she just has an overall good naming sense (at the very least better than Aizawa, though that's not saying much). Kokoro roughly translates to "heart" in Japanese. It's a reference to Kyoka's Quirk.**

 **Not sure if Ochako will change to "Infinity Woman" at some point or not. After all, Recovery Girl is a granny and still rocking that name, so it'd be a matter of personal preference I guess. More about the internship picks will be revealed as we progress. I'm definitely going to show multiple characters and not just stick to Izuku the whole time, rest assured. As far as making accounts in preparation for the Go-Live, I'll detail more about that in the post-chapter notes.**

 **HyperNinja203 : Great to hear! I look forward to seeing you there! I make it a point to catch up on the most recent chapters of the manga every few months or so, that way I can just sit down and read for a little while at a time. I prefer that to spending a few minutes at a time reading a single manga chapter, generally speaking. Last I checked it was going in an interesting direction and getting to see more of the Villains is perfect for me!**

 **DragonBall Shin, Guest, Guest, Fk306, Eoj2031, Imora, Lee fanfics, Sentinel07 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, it looks like Izuku just got an alert about a new group message...**

* * *

Chapter Fifty: Thinking Big

Grenade: Emergency meeting after class 2 discuss internshits.

Grenade: Internshits.

Grenade: Shits.

Grenade: …Holy shit I think I broke my autocorrect.

Potato: lolwut?

All Might: You've actually managed to corrupt it. I don't think that's supposed to be possible.

Octopus: I am unsure whether to be impressed or concerned.

Glasses: I for one do not condone this. That phone was innocent.

Star: "Was" being the key word there, huh?

Star: So where are we meeting?

Potato: the clubroom?

Grenade: Nah, no reason 2 go that far. This shouldn't take long. I rly just want 2 compare draft picks and spitball.

Glasses: Indeed, we only have a couple of days to decide, so bouncing ideas off of each other now would be beneficial.

All Might: Why not just group up in the courtyard for a few minutes after class then?

Grenade: That works.

Potato: sweet i wont have 2 miss my train!

This exchange of messages from the freshly-renamed "Baku Don's Mafia" was what caused Izuku Midoriya to find himself huddled in a circle off to one side of U.A.'s courtyard.

"This was my idea, so I'll kick things off." Kacchan grinned, clearly excited to show off his offers, "Check _this_ shit out!" he thrust a piece of paper into the center of the group, where one name was circled: "Best Jeanist Hero Agency."

"Holy crap, Best Jeanist?!" Kaminari gasped, "Isn't he, like, a big deal?"

"He's the current Number Four Hero!" Izuku said reflexively, every bit as impressed as the redhead, "Kacchan, that's a big offer! Are you taking it?"

"Fuck yeah, I am!" the blond bomber confirmed, "I'm gonna give the list one more scan later, but I'm pretty sure he's the highest ranker on there."

"Well, he's not crazy-high ranked or anything, but I got an offer from Fourth Kind!" Kirishima showed his own list, "He's got a reputation for being pretty tough, so I'm thinking he'd be right up my alley."

"Not just tough, but he's also known as 'The Chivalrous Hero.'" Izuku added, "I'm sure that you'll learn something from him!"

"Well, speaking of tough Heroes," Ochako chimed in, "I'm thinking of going with Gunhead."

"Gunhead? As in 'The Battle Hero' Gunhead?" Kacchan raised an eyebrow.

"Uraraka-san, are you sure? I thought you wanted to be a Rescue Hero like Thirteen?" Izuku concurred.

"Well, when all's said and done, I do." Ochako nodded, a serious expression on her face, "But I've been thinking, well, no matter what I specialize in, I'll have to fight at some point, right? I feel like getting a strong foundation in that early on will help me be more well-rounded when it's time to start for real, you know?"

Izuku blinked. That was some extremely sound logic. It almost sounded like the sort of thing he himself might have said. After all, he wanted to be the best like All Might, which meant that he had to be good at almost every aspect of Heroism. If an opportunity presented itself to broaden his horizons, it would be foolish for him not to take it.

"Such foresight and dedication! I find it truly moving!" Iida gushed as one of his hands chopped the air while the other was raised in a sort of salute, "And so decisive too! Regrettably, I have yet to come to a decision myself. Ideally I would like to go to Team Idaten, of course, but with my elder brother still on the mend and many of the personnel still recovering from certain…other…aspects of the recent incident, I feel that would not be pertinent."

It was clear enough what he meant just from the way he said it. That combined with the official statement regarding Team Idaten's encounter with the Hero Killer confirmed for Izuku that Ingenium himself hadn't been the only casualty.

"Iida-san," Izuku felt compelled to say something, "if, you know, you need to talk or anything…"

"Yeah, man." Kirishima clapped the taller boy on the shoulder, "We're here for you, ya know?"

"I appreciate that, truly." Iida's smile wavered for a moment, "But it's fine. Honestly."

"The hell it is. Are you saying you've forgotten what that piece of shit did to your brother? Have you forgiven him that quickly?" Kacchan said with a hint of venom in his voice.

"Of course I haven't!" Iida barked, "How could I forget?! How could I forgive him?! He slew or maimed several members of Team Idaten, my brother among them and you have the gall to ask me about _forgiveness?!_ " his eyes widened as he realized how quickly he had flared up. He took a deep breath before continuing, "I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Like hell you didn't." Kacchan cut him off, "You can try and bullshit others as much as you want, but don't bullshit _yourself_ too. No shit you're mad. No shit you want revenge. You can bet your ass that any one who's not some sort of fucking saint would feel the same way."

"Indeed." Shoji nodded, "In many ways, as callous as it may sound, the feelings you have are less important than what you do _with_ those feelings."

…Had his eyes flicked to Kacchan for a moment as he said that, or had Izuku imagined it?

Shoji blinked as five pairs of eyes settled on him, impressed at his wisdom. He coughed self-consciously.

"* **Ahem** * Well, to get back on topic, I did actually get an off-the-record offer which I intend to accept, but I cannot tell you who it is. My apologies."

"Oh, well, as long as you've got a plan, that's good then, right?" Ochako was clearly thrown off-balance by the sudden shift in the tone of the conversation, "What about you, Deku-kun? You're the only one we haven't heard from."

"Oh, well, I haven't made my decision for sure yet, but…" Izuku showed them the first page of his offers, letting it speak for itself.

"Wait, _what_?"

"Holy shit!"

"My word!"

"Endeavor? Fucking _Endeavor?_ " Kacchan was flabbergasted, "Deku, what do you _mean_ you haven't chosen yet?! That's the goddamn _Number Two Hero_ right there! Jesus tapdancing _Christ_ , you must have impressed him. Maybe it's because you're a flame-user too?"

"I mean, don't I at least owe it to everyone else who gave me an offer to look over the rest of the list first?"

"Fuck that! If you get an offer from anyone in the top ten, you _take_ it!"

"I must agree with the overall sentiment, if not the wording." Iida nodded, adjusting his glasses, "If you intend to aim for the top, then it would behoove you to gain experience from those who have already achieved this."

"That's right, Deku-kun!" Ochako gave a firm nod, "You want to be like All Might and you just got an offer from the one who's basically the closest to him, at least as far as rank and reputation. You'll get a real idea of what things look like from the top! How could you say 'no' to that?"

What could Izuku say? He was getting the same message from multiple sources, all of whom he trusted. He would still go through the entirety of the list when he got home (he would have felt bad otherwise, plus it would be cool to see who had made offers to him), but it was looking more and more like his decision was already made.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

It was the afternoon of Tuesday, May 14th, 2222, the week prior to when the internships were scheduled to begin and Izuku found himself standing outside of a traditional Japanese-style manor and sweating bullets.

Why was he there? Simply put, he had been invited.

" _Hey, Midoriya."_

" _Ah, Todoroki-san! How can I help you?"_

" _You're usually free after class, right?"_

" _M-more or less. Why?"_

" _Come over to my place after class today. My old man wants to talk to you. He said you should bring your Hero Costume too. He gave me a signed request form before I left, so that's already been taken care of."_

Even if he had tried to refuse, Izuku had a feeling that the words would have never made it past his lips. It was like Kacchan and Ochako had said: One did not simply refuse an offer from someone in Endeavor's position. So it was that Izuku had texted his mom to let her know what he was doing and followed Todoroki home after class.

"Yeah, so, welcome and all that." Todoroki deadpanned as he advanced towards the door, "Most likely, Endeavor's the only one here at the moment. My older brother is off attending university and my sister works as a teacher, so she doesn't get home until a bit later."

In other words, there wouldn't be any interruptions for whatever Endeavor had planned for him.

"I d-don't suppose he mentioned why he w-wanted to see me?" Izuku asked hopefully, only to be disappointed when Todoroki shook his head.

"After he got home last night, he told me to invite you over and to have you bring your costume. He seemed pleased about something."

What could have possibly happened at Endeavor's agency the previous day that would have involved Izuku? All that he had done apart from attend school was to submit his draft…choice.

Oh.

Todoroki gave him a searching look as his hand hovered over the door.

"Do you have some idea what might have happened?"

"Well…I accepted his internship offer."

"His _what_?!"

"Ah, Shoto, I thought I heard your voice. And you've brought Midoriya I see." the door had opened to reveal the senior Todoroki standing there in plain clothes consisting of a tank top and a pair of athletic pants with a towel hung around his neck, evidently having recently finished a workout routine of some sort. His trademark flaming facial hair crackled as he stood aside and gestured for the boys to enter.

"Though we know each other well enough, we have yet to be formally introduced." the door closed behind them and the large man stepped forward, extending a hand, "Enji Todoroki."

"Izuku Midoriya." Izuku shook the hand automatically, "I am in your care, Todoroki-san."

"If calling both my son and myself by our surnames becomes tedious, you are free to refer to me by my Hero Name or 'sir' if you prefer."

Todoroki Sr. led the way into the sitting room and gestured for the boys to sit while he proceeded to the adjacent kitchen.

"I think I shall make tea. I find it refreshing after some exercise. Is this agreeable, Midoriya?"

"Y-yes, sir. Thank you."

In the unusually short amount of time that it took for Endeavor to prepare the tea, likely because he heated the water himself, Todoroki was giving Izuku an intense look, apparently still processing that he would be interning under his father.

"I hope that my sudden invitation has not inconvenienced you, Midoriya." the patriarch said as he returned with three steaming cups of tea, "It has simply never been my style to wait for the 'official' timing for such things. I had an opportunity to get both of my interns in the same place at the same time, so I took it."

"Both?" Izuku's eyes widened as his head snapped between the two Todorokis, "You mean, Todoroki-san is also-"

"He didn't tell you? Not surprising, I suppose." Endeavor took a sip of his tea, "Yes, each agency is allowed to take on up to two interns at a time and I was fortunate enough to secure both of you for myself. While we aren't authorized to begin field exercises as such until next week, there is no reason that we should remain idle during the interim."

"You don't think this is a bit too irregular?" Todoroki scowled at his father, "I doubt that any other agency is doing something like this."

"I doubt that any other agency has a situation exactly like this one." was the man's rebuttal, "Still, I suppose this is a good opportunity for your first lesson."

"I'm sure the two of you are aware that Villains tend to have the initiative. Being a Pro Hero means that you are a part of a profession that is inherently reactive. It is equally true that being reactive in such a profession can cost both lives and money. Thus, a Pro Hero must be as proactive as possible; standing around and waiting for the 'approved time' is nonsense. _I_ shall decide the 'appropriate time' myself and if my decisions produce favorable results, then nobody will have any room to complain."

"'Villains don't wait, so why should we?'" Izuku quoted.

"Precisely. This is why I have taken the liberty of commissioning new costumes for the both of you. Of course, I already have all of Shoto's necessary data, but my designers could still use a better idea regarding you, Midoriya. This is why I had you bring your costume." he gestured to the coffee table and Izuku, taking the hint, placed the steel briefcase containing his costume on it, entering the code to open it for Endeavor.

"Hmm, yes, I see." the Number Two Hero murmured to himself as he examined the various pieces individually before carefully placing them back in the case, "Not a bad design, truth be told, but still somewhat inefficient. The fault lies in the material, you see."

"Enterprium." Shoto muttered.

"Indeed."

"Um, s-sorry, but, what's 'Enterprium?'" Izuku inquired.

"You are aware of my Quirk, of course?"

"Of course! Hellflame allows you to produce and manipulate fire at-will in addition to giving you immunity to heat-based damage. It's a simple Quirk on the surface, but you can focus it in various ways to create a multitude of useful techniques. Its only known weakness is that using too much power at once can cause your body temperature to rise and if it gets too high, you become feverish and otherwise impaired." Izuku rattled off on command.

Endeavor blinked in mild surprise before sparing a glance at his son, who was giving him a "told you so" look.

"I see that my son did not exaggerate regarding your studious nature. You are indeed correct. Now, tell me, how come my costume never burns, regardless of how hot I make my flames?

"Well, it's highly resistant to heat." Izuku shrugged, "Nobody is really sure about its exact specifications, because that's generally a trade secret."

"Not only is it a trade secret, it's a material that my agency _invented_."

Izuku stared bug-eyed at the implications.

"That's right. Enterprium is a material that is only manufacturable and usable by those with the express permission of the Endeavor Hero Agency. It exhibits a level of temperature resistance that is heretofore unheard of for such a thin material. The fabric is easily capable of withstanding the flame from an oxyacetylene torch, which burns at around three-thousand degrees Celsius."

"Of course, all of that heat energy needs to go somewhere. The fabric can absorb and distribute the heat very efficiently, but unless you want to cook someone alive inside of their own costume, you need a way to vent it. Those glowing markings on my costume aren't just for show, you know. They are a super-conductive material that absorbs excess heat from the fabric and directs it to specially-placed vents on my costume, which is what causes the well-known flare-ups along my shoulders and boots. My bracers are further reinforced with an extra layer of insulating ceramics that prevent me from burning anything or anyone I touch while using my flames."

Izuku absorbed all of this like a sponge. Endeavor's explanation answered several questions that had frustrated theorists and fanboys alike for years.

"Wait, does that mean that you'll be giving Todoroki-san and I costumes made out of Enterprium?"

"Of course; it's the most reasonable thing to do. You require as much protection from your own flames as you can get and while Shoto is in no inherent danger from his, the ability to more efficiently regulate his own temperature will still be beneficial to him. Of course, I couldn't show too much favoritism, so I had to wait until he became affiliated with my agency in an official capacity, albeit a temporary one."

"The same goes for you, Izuku Midoriya. Now that you have made the wise decision to affiliate yourself with me, my resources are at your disposal and believe me when I say that I intend to have you make good use of them. I'll shape the two of you into competent Heroes even if I have to beat it into you."

"B-but, sir, the internship only lasts for a week!" Izuku protested.

"Surely you don't think I intend to simply abandon the two of you once it is finished? Provided that you do not disappoint me, I'm sure that similar opportunities will present themselves in the future."

 _He's…serious. He's actually prepared to settle in for the long haul with this. I could understand if it was just for Todoroki-san, but for me too?_

 _As long as you don't screw it up._

 _Why?_

 _How the hell should I know? As him if it matters to you so much._

"Endeavor," Izuku began, "I don't mean to sound ungrateful or to question your decision to help me, but…why me?"

"That should be obvious, shouldn't it?" Todoroki Sr. responded with a raised eyebrow, "I believe that you show promise and I'm not only talking about the Sports Festival or the USJ incident here. I still remember a certain video that I saw some time ago where a young man threw himself at a Villain that he had no hope of defeating because there was someone who needed help."

He was talking about the Sludge Villain, Izuku realized.

"I…didn't expect you to know about that."

The corner of Endeavor's mouth quirked up for a moment before he regained his business-like demeanor.

"Now, I think it is fairly obvious what the main focus of your exercises is going to be. Shoto, your control over your flames pales in comparison to your control over your ice. That changes starting _now_. As for you, Midoriya, your power is considerable, but clearly inefficient if your battle against my son is anything to go by. Your new technique doesn't even last a minute; we need to work on that."

After that, the Pro Hero put Todoroki to work with a basic set of exercises designed to force him to regulate how much fire he emitted at once and Izuku spent several minutes explaining the ins and outs of his Quirk, what his usual training regime was and how he came up with his new technique (without mentioning anything about All Might or One For All, of course).

"Hmm. I have a theory regarding this, though I suspect we will have to wait until your new costume is complete to test it out properly. In the interim, I want you to put your mind to this problem and see if you can come up with any possibilities on your own. Your normal training schedule appears to be sufficient, so keep doing that. Your costume should be ready by the time the internship properly starts."

Izuku agreed and went home after providing Endeavor with a copy of his measurements for his costume.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Fight Club the next day was a bit more brutal than usual. Kacchan had paired every single member off with someone randomly and ordered them to fight a single round, switch partners, repeat the process, switch, repeat again, switch and repeat a final time. That meant four three-minute rounds of fighting against random opponents with only a sixty second break between bouts. Club wasn't even half over and people were already bruised and sweating.

"Well, not bad. Not bad at all." Kacchan grinned as he settled on his makeshift throne and drank heavily from a bottle of water, "Even the newbie's still standing…barely."

Shinso was indeed on his feet, albeit with the assistance of a nearby wall and clutching at a stitch in his side.

"Bakubro, you know I'm all for a good brawl, but what gives today?" Kirishima asked as he wiped sweat from his brow.

"Two main reasons. First, I wanted to make sure you asshats were in peak condition for your internships because I want each of you to make damn sure that you get at least one useful combat-related thing out of your hosts and bring it back to the club with you. Second, I think it's about time we moved on to Phase Two."

"Phase Two? What's that?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure Phase One is 'Beat the shit out of each other.'"

"Yeah, but what about Phase Two?"

"Phase Three is 'Profit.'"

"So if Phase One is 'Beat the shit out of each other' and Phase Three is 'Profit,' then what's Phase Two?"

"Sell tickets?"

"I'm not sure that's ethical."

The brainstorming continued for a minute or two before Kacchan gestured for Kirishima to bend over, placed a sound block on his back and proceeded to whack it with his gavel.

"If you could all shut the fuck up for a bit, I can tell you what Phase Two is." he glared around he room before continuing, "Now that we've gotten into the swing of things, it's time we started thinking bigger. What the hell do you think Present Mic's _here_ for anyway?"

Some of the savvier club members were already beginning to understand. Izuku already knew, of course: Kacchan had enlisted his aid in planning everything out once the club had officially started. It didn't mean he wasn't a little excited though.

"Phase Two involves two main parts: Recruitment and Recordings. Each of you is gonna have the ability to recommend someone for membership in our little organization here. If you can come up with a good reason why we should give them a shot, then they'll be allowed to 'apply.' If you end up being shitty at this or decide to abuse the privilege, it's gone. End of story."

"The other part means that we're gonna start getting a bit more in-character around here. Present Mic's gonna cobble together some edited footage that will be 'leaked' onto the web for the purpose of earning people a bit of a reputation and earning the club some ad revenue along the way."

"That's right, Listeners! It's gonna be low-fi, gritty and full of cam-shake! Quality underground entertainment! Plus, once people see how tough you all are _without_ your Quirks, I bet it'll scare some would-be Villains straight!"

"Well, there you have it. Obviously, no club meeting next week because none of us will be here. If I hear about anyone slacking off at their internships, I'm throwing you in the ring with Ojiro and Shoji. _At the same time_."

More than one person shivered at the prospect of dealing with thirteen combined limbs simultaneously and resolved to give the internships their all.

"Now, let's have a few exhibition matches for shits and giggles. I'll step in the ring first, so I wanna see some goddamn motivation! Go beyond!"

"PLUS ULTRA!"

* * *

 **Speaking of thinking bigger, Fires of Creation is now LIVE! You can find it at (with the underscores removed) pat_reon._com/FiresOfCreation. I already have a wave of Day Zero content available and I hope to see you guys there!**

 **It is worth noting that I have it set to charge for the current month at the time that you sign up, which is one of the reasons why I made sure to have an initial wave of content ready for consumption, so if money is especially tight, consider waiting until August 1st to start donating. I won't take it personally, I promise! It is also worth noting that in order to donate, you must be at least 18 years of age or have the permission of your parent or legal guardian per Pat_reon's terms of service. I don't want anyone to get in trouble, so let's keep everything above-board!  
**

 **The only accounts you should have to make if you don't have them already are a pat_reon account and a Discord account (if you intend to make use of the Discord rewards, which I hope you do!) both of these are quick and free to make. You can get Discord at (again, remove the underscores) discordapp_.com. You can also get a mobile version in the app store if you want.  
**

 **#NotSponsored**

 **One last thing before I get to the teaser for next time: I originally intended to spend the whole day actively on the Discord to interact with my day-one patrons, but my grandparents are coming in from out-of-town so I'll be on in the morning and probably some of the evening depending on how long the visit goes, but not in the early afternoon. Sorry about that!  
**

 **Next time, we'll be getting into the internships proper! I plan on showing the arrival scenes for at least two or three different POVs, so that should be fun.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	53. Chapter 51: No Promises

**Only two weeks after the launch of Fires of Creation and it's already seeing success! Take a look at what's over there if you haven't already at pat_reon*dot*com/FiresOfCreation (just remove the underscore and replace *dot* with a dot)! Join in and gain access to exclusive content as well as a Discord server where you can chat with myself and my other patrons!  
**

 **Also, thank you to the couple of reviewers who pointed out typos in the previous chapter. I went back and fixed those before posting this.**

 **Review time:**

 **ProjectIceman, Death of Snipers, uchihaNaruto247, Slayer76, Constipated Genius, Ooobserver : Several of you are excited about Izuku's new costume and for good reason given what Endeavor's goal with it is! We will be seeing it in action very soon and it will definitely open up some new opportunities for him.  
**

 **Death of Snipers, the_narr_master, The Incredible Muffin, Constipated Genius, Ooobserver, The 0bservanc3 : People are also getting hyped for further developments in Fight Club. I gotta say, for something I just started doing as a little side-thing, it's become very popular! I'll do my best not to disappoint!  
**

 **ProjectIceman, Tonlor, D3lph0xL0v3r, The Incredible Muffin, Batmarcus, Constipated Genius, Superf7n Guy, seanklovett, Malchior, LucklessBlock86, Grunt Sculpin, The 0bservanc3 : Whenever I give Endeavor a significant amount of screentime, people always say how much more they like my version than canon and I give a little internal fist-pump of victory each time because he's always been VITAL to this story. This internship has been on its way for the past fifty chapters and now that we're here I'm more than a little nervous! Likewise, there are some for whom the Endeavor hate runs deep and all I can say is this: "good" does not mean "nice" and "asshole" does not mean "evil."  
**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r, The Incredible Muffin, Constipated Genius : People liking the portrayal of Tenya's anger.**

 **Gwynbleidd99 : Thank you for your well-wishes in regards to Fires of Creation! It's going to be a while before I hit my goal (if I ever do), but it's seeing immediate success and I'm doing some cool work. Come on over and check it out!**

 **ProjectIceman : Thank you for your support as my patron! You should join us in the Discord at some point, unless it's not really your thing. I got caught up to shortly after the point where not-Spawn used Stress Bomb, without spoiling anything for other readers and I agree that the current situation is interesting.**

 **The Keeper of Worlds : I wouldn't feel too bad for Katsuki. You'll see why in this chapter!**

 **Superf7n Guy : This is high praise, both for my story and my skills as an author. Thank you! As for advice on writing Ochako, I'd say remembering her flaws is every bit as important as playing to her strengths. For instance, she's very emotional and wears her heart on her sleeve. This makes her a good friend and gives her a kind personality, but she's also more susceptible to emotional damage than others, just as an example. The problem a lot of people have with her is that they think she lacks depth and only exists to give Izuku a love interest, so a primary goal should be to flesh her out a bit and prove them wrong.  
**

 **Corruption of Saints : Good to see you back! We'll get a look into a couple of internships here with more to come! The Antihero program is probably not brand-new, but not super old either. Given that they're not officially recognized as Heroes though, the odds of a student interning under one would be slim. We will see more of at least one Antihero though and possibly more if I see a good opportunity.**

 **I'm enjoying playing around with the League of Villains members enough that I need to be careful not to give them too much attention too soon. Bits and pieces is the name of the game, though it goes without saying that we'll see more of them. Events with Stain in particular will definitely not play out the same way as in canon. As for the Jekyll and Hyde-esque thing going on with Tomura, I always liked the idea that he wasn't completely unhinged 24/7 and canon seems to support this when he see him interacting with other members of the League.**

 **Avalon Starfire : I do have some half-baked plans for Katsuki, both in regards to the reveal and what he may or may not do apart from that.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Katsuki does indeed know about Best Jeanist's tendencies and is planning on using those to his advantage. It's actually Mezo with the off-the-record offer, not Tenya. As for what he's doing with it, you will see! I think that keeping the flaming facial hair going is so second-nature to him at this point that he has to consciously put it out. Most likely when he goes to bed or showers.**

 **Enterprium is an altered version of the word "enterprise" which is a synonym for "endeavor." One of the rare moments I'm able to show some cleverness about naming things. I supposed if Endeavor was being a dick about it, he might make Izuku return the costume. Enterprium is patented by the Endeavor Hero Agency, so yes, anyone who reverse-engineered and started to use it without permission could potentially be subject to legal action.**

 **dragonightmare, Asuki -The Infinite Archive, Guest, taimurpro, inFamousSlyMonkey, Royal-Canadian-Flame, sparkydragon98, BlazerBug, HighPaladinRin, Joshua Cornerstone, Sentinel07 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, lets get into the head of someone we haven't seen in a hot minute:**

* * *

Chapter Fifty-One: No Promises

Toshinori Yagi was doing some thinking. Many who were familiar with only his All Might persona would likely have said that he didn't seem to think about things very much, preferring to act. These people were not wrong, especially if one were to rewind the clock to just shy of a couple of decades ago. Not to say that Toshinori was unintelligent per-se, just that he was a man of action at his core.

Nothing like a mortal injury to make a man think, after all. Once it became clear that his daily time he could spend as a Hero was limited, Toshinori had been forced to spend much more of his time thinking. He had thought about how to make the most of his remaining power, how to keep his injury a secret, how best to find a suitable inheritor for One For All and, more recently, how best to guide his students and his protégé.

One thing that the waning Symbol of Peace did _not_ generally spend his time doing was reminiscing. There had been good times, of course, but there had also been plenty of bad to go along with them. When the bad was clustered together so thickly, it discouraged one from looking back too often.

And yet, the world was seemingly conspiring to force him to think about the old days.

His old teacher, Gran Torino, had surprised him very much by extending an internship offer to young Midoriya, though it had arrived late and thus had not made it onto his list. Toshinori had debated informing his successor of the additional offer, but the boy had beaten him to the punch by submitting his decision as soon as he was able.

Endeavor. Well, he could certainly see the merit, even if his relationship with the fiery Number Two Hero was ironically frosty in spite of his best efforts. The man almost seemed to take his very existence as a personal affront. Even so, nobody in their right mind could deny that he took his work _very_ seriously and, as such, would do his utmost to ensure that those under his wing succeeded in their, well, endeavors.

Of course, his mentor had more to discuss with him than just that. He had kept an ear to the ground even though he was ostensibly retired and occasionally checked in with Toshinori or Tsukauchi to report anything he felt was worth mentioning. His latest observations had meshed in a very unfortunate way with Toshinori's own.

Yes, the appearance of the League of Villains had very nearly been a catastrophe, but it was one particular member that had plagued his thoughts:

Nomu.

The so-called bioengineered Anti-Symbol of Peace that seemed to somehow possess multiple Quirks, though nobody could fathom how.

Toshinori knew a way.

He would never be able to forget the man who wielded that power. He was forced to remember him every time he took a breath, coughed up blood or looked in the mirror.

As much as he hated to consider the possibility, as certain as he was that the man could not be anything but dead, the evidence was all pointing towards one answer:

All Might's nemesis, All For One, had returned and was becoming active once more.

Toshinori had prayed that he would never have to involve young Midoriya in his old battles, or at least that it would not happen until he was ready. A foolish sentiment, really.

After all, one was never truly ready to face a Supervillain like All For One.

 _My boy, please learn all that you can from Endeavor. Grow as fast as you are able, for I fear that I shall not be able to shield you from this knowledge for much longer without placing you in even greater danger._

 _And once you know, you will not be able to remain a child for much longer._

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was feeling nervous. This was far from abnormal, especially given his usual temperament, but here it was somewhat warranted. After all, if he did well with his internship, it could help him to develop a working relationship with the Endeavor Hero Agency, which was an opportunity that many would go to extreme lengths for. The fact that it was not a short trip to the agency only gave him time to stew further on this.

Thankfully, Ochako had come to the rescue when she had decided to call him, being in the middle of her own journey and fairly bored, if not a little nervous in her own right. They had spoken briefly, wishing each other luck and making small talk. Focusing on someone else's worries had helped to distract Izuku from his own and by the time they had said their goodbyes, he was only about ten minutes from his destination and didn't have the time to get himself worked up again.

Good thing too, because if his first impression of the towering skyscraper that was the Endeavor Hero Agency had been influenced by his nerves, it would have looked unspeakably intimidating. As it was, Izuku found himself suitably impressed and able to appreciate the building for what it was: a symbol of success and a statement to all who beheld it.

"I am here."

As much as Endeavor might disagree with All Might's methodology in some ways, even he wasn't immune to the power of those three iconic words. In the decades since All Might's debut, presence had become an increasingly important factor for Pro Heroes. Their agencies had become steadily larger and flashier, making their presence impossible to ignore for Villains and civilians alike. They served as symbols of hope and nuclear deterrents at the same time.

After all, who _wouldn't_ think twice about snatching that purse or holding up that jewelry store with that towering reminder that two-hundred and sixty pounds of flame-spewing muscle could descend on you at any moment?

Yes, he could certainly benefit from this.

With a grim nod to himself, Izuku walked through the electronic door into the lobby. It was large and expensive-looking in a refined, subdued way. Izuku could practically hear Iida's voice in his ear as he gestured around and adjusted his glasses.

 _It is of the utmost importance that all potential clients understand from a glance that you are to be taken seriously, but there is likewise no reason to intimidate them. Opulent, yet tasteful is the sign of a successful and powerful organization!_

Well, both were certainly things that the Endeavor Hero Agency represented, Izuku mused as he approached a smiling receptionist, success and power. He was about to greet the receptionist when she beat him to the punch.

"Good morning! Would you happen to be Midoriya-san?" Izuku blinked dumbly before managing to respond.

"Ah, y-yes!" the receptionist gave him an understanding look.

"Endeavor has been expecting you. Please, follow me: I have been asked to give you a brief tour of the building as we make our way to his personal office which, as I'm sure you could have guessed, is on the fiftieth floor."

 _F-fifty floors?! Maybe I should've brought an additional notebook just for that…_

"Oh, don't worry," the receptionist had clearly picked up on his shock, "we won't be going over each individual floor in detail. Really, they tend to be grouped together by category with only a few notable exceptions. For instance, Ground Floor: Reception Area." she gestured to the massive lobby, "It more or less speaks for itself, but a few years ago there was a small café added due to popular demand. Small-scale business meetings or in-person sales transactions often take place here, since it would be inadvisable to try anything untoward on a Pro Hero's doorstep."

Izuku was led to an elevator that had an electronic card reader instead of up/down buttons. The receptionist swiped her ID and the doors opened. Once they were inside and the doors had closed, a touch screen panel on the wall lit up with a list of floors from G to 50, with another button below the rest that simply said "B" and one above the rest that said "R."

"Depending on whose ID is used to access the elevator, the selection of available floors is limited." the receptionist explained, "All employees have access to the ground floor as well as floors two thru twenty-three, which are all office space, floor twenty-four, which is the employee lounge and food court and floor twenty-five, which is the on-site gym."

While she was speaking, she had tapped the button labeled "26" and the elevator had smoothly begun moving.

"Incidentally, I wouldn't usually have access to the entire building, but Endeavor gave me special privileges for today so that I could show you around. I guess I should be thanking you!" she winked at Izuku, causing him to blush slightly. The elevator doors opened with a small ding and Izuku did a double-take because the twenty-sixth floor resembled nothing so much as an apartment building or hotel with a long hall and numbered doors.

"Floors twenty-six thru twenty-nine are on-site living. It's purely optional, of course, but with how expensive city living can be, having this as a benefit appeals to lots of employees! There is, of course, a strict no-smoking policy. Floor thirty is laid out in much the same way, but it's strictly for temporary living. Overnight business clients and the like." she selected "31" next and smirked, "Now we get to the good stuff."

When the doors next opened, Izuku's jaw nearly hit the floor. The ceiling loomed overhead, clearly more than one, five or even ten floors worth of space had been dedicated to a massive, multi-tiered facility with cutting-edge technology everywhere he looked and people running around either in lab coats or various protective equipment.

"Floors thirty-one thru forty-five: Research and Development. The Endeavor Hero Agency prides itself on being largely self-sufficient in all aspects of the Hero business, including equipment. We occasionally hire outside help for extremely delicate projects, but more often than not outside people come to _us_ with requests. You'll find a lower density of support companies in the immediate vicinity than usual and this is why."

"Hey, I recognize you!" Izuku saw a middle-aged man in a lab coat jogging towards them with a smile and a wave, "You're the kid we were developing that new costume for, right? That was a fun little project, I gotta say. You make sure and let us know if you aren't one-hundred percent satisfied, alright? We pride ourselves on the quality of our work here and constructive feedback is always welcome!"

Izuku still wasn't used to being recognized by people he had never met before and fought to control his stutter as he shook the man's hand.

"Th-thank you for your hard w-work! I'll b-be sure to l-let you know!" the man smiled good-naturedly before leaning in conspiratorially.

"Oh, and uh, if anyone asks, the headpiece wasn't my idea, alright?" he whispered with a wink before standing up and bowing to the receptionist, "I'll leave you to it then, ma'am. Sorry for the intrusion."

"Don't worry about it, Giru-san."

Izuku was somewhat puzzled at the level of deference that was being shown to the receptionist as well as the level of familiarity she evidently had with this part of the office for someone who allegedly wasn't usually allowed up there, but she continued with her explanations before he had the chance to give voice to his curiosity, tapping the icon for the top floor.

"Floors forty-six and forty-seven are legal offices, floor forty-eight is executive offices and floor forty-nine is Endeavor's private training room. Real heavily-reinforced piece of work that is, I'll tell you." the doors opened with another ding, "Fiftieth Floor: Endeavor's Office."

 _Holy shit, she's not exaggerating._

Izuku was forced to agree with Other Izuku's appraisal: the entire fiftieth floor was taken up by a single massive office with a comparatively small-looking desk sitting on top of a large, ornate rug in the center, behind which sat a costumed Endeavor with Todoroki standing slightly off to the side and looking at something on one of the computer monitors his father was showing him, a purposefully-blank expression on his scarred face.

"Midoriya-san's here now, Boss." the receptionist stated in a carrying voice that echoed off of the tiled floor and made Izuku flinch. Endeavor apparently did not mind the interruption, giving the pair his undivided attention and nodding.

"Thank you, Saotome. You may go." the now-named receptionist flashed Izuku the peace sign as the elevator doors closed, leaving him alone with the two Todorokis.

"You made good time, Midoriya." Endeavor observed, rising from his desk, "I was showing Shoto some of the administrative side of things while we waited, but that can be finished later." he indicated the comfortable-looking leather couch and two similar chairs that sat on either side of a low table at the other end of the rug.

Once Izuku and Shoto had settled themselves in the chairs and Endeavor had contented himself with the couch, he gestured to two familiar-looking steel briefcases sitting on the table.

"I'm sure I don't need to spell it out for you, but these contain your new costumes. The R&D department was rather enthusiastic about this side-project, so hopefully they produced satisfactory results."

"Giru-san actually said hello to Saotome-san and me." Izuku relayed, "He seemed particularly enthusiastic about it."

"Giru, huh?" the corner of Endeavor's mouth quirked upwards, causing Izuku to glance at Todoroki in confusion.

"He's in charge of the R&D department. The order was given directly to him, so it was kind of a big deal."

If Izuku had been drinking something, he would have done a spit take. Given that he was sitting directly across from Endeavor, he was fortunate that this was not the case.

"I n-never would have guessed! H-he was so respectful to Saotome-san that I j-just assumed-!"

"It only makes sense that he treated Saotome with deference." Endeavor waved away Izuku's shock, "After all, she's my Sidekick."

"The receptionist is your Sidekick? Your _Sidekick_ is the _receptionist_?!" Izuku choked out.

"Of course. I need someone I can trust holding down the fort while I'm away and manning the proverbial front gates. Who better? Plus, as you have just demonstrated, she's the last person anyone would suspect."

 _She was toying with you earlier, talking about "special privileges" and all that._

 _I see that now, thank you._

"I thought that something seemed a bit odd, but she just kept things moving and I went along with it."

"Another lesson for you about being proactive then: Seize the initiative. If your instincts tell you that something is wrong, do not ignore them. In the worst case, you will come off as rude or paranoid and can always apologize. In the best case, however, it could save your life."

Izuku nodded, accepting the truth of Endeavor's words. He was trusting by nature and didn't enjoy doubting people without cause but, as the old saying went, it wasn't paranoia if someone really _was_ out to get you. As an aspiring Hero, there would no doubt be people out to get him.

Hell, if the invasion from the League of Villains was any indication, there already _were_ people out to get him. Wasn't that a comforting thought?

Endeavor nodded approvingly as he saw the gears turning in Izuku's head.

"How refreshing it is to have a student who takes my lessons to heart. Why can't you be like that, Shoto? You would be so much further along by now if you were."

"Tch."

"Well, be that as it may, why don't the two of you go change into your new costumes and we can test them out? You can use the executive bathroom over there."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo was doing his best to prevent his eyes from rolling so hard that they inverted themselves. He had only arrived at the Genius Office a few minutes ago and if _one_ more person told him that he would look good in jeans, he was going to commit homicide.

Having said that, credit where credit was due. Every single member of the agency was wearing jeans and somehow each of them had found the precise sort of pair that worked for them. Katsuki had never imagined that there could be so many different types of jeans, but damned if it didn't seem to be nearly infinite. Blue jeans, cobalt jeans, light jeans, heavy jeans, dark jeans, black jeans, white jeans, skinny jeans, boot-cut jeans, frayed jeans, loose jeans, tight jeans, mom jeans…

Jeans fucking everywhere.

…Damn look at that ass.

As for the rest of the office, it was of a very modernistic design with shades of various blues and whites and an overall clean, sleek appearance. The furniture, on the other hand, was colorful and trendy-looking with the occasional small trophy or ornament decorating the walls and shelves.

From the outside, the building managed to stand out while only being a few stories tall with its pearly white coloring and large, green windows.

Quality, not quantity. That was the impression that the office of the Number Four Hero had given to Katsuki.

He could appreciate that.

He had been asked to wait a few minutes while Best Jeanist finished up a phone call that he had received unexpectedly and was given more or less free access to the building in the interim. In all honesty, they needn't have bothered. Katsuki went straight to the second floor and immediately caught sight of his host Hero at the other end of the office, facing out of one of the large windows and talking on the phone.

Katsuki was able to see Best Jeanist by virtue of the open-concept layout of the office. There were two long tables equipped with various computers and workers seated on either side of each table, then a sort of employee lounge, then a set of five or six stairs that led to a slightly higher part of the level that seemed to be Best Jeanist's area.

 _Well, I guess this makes it easy to keep an eye on everyone. Doesn't give much in the way of privacy though._

Katsuki made his way to the lounge area and sat himself down on a sofa to wait. A few minutes later, he felt someone sit down next to him.

"You know, you'd look good in jeans."

Katsuki rounded on the man only to freeze in his tracks as he came face-to-face with Tsunagu Hakamata. The Fiber Hero: Best Jeanist.

He was a tall, slim man with a long neck and dark eyes, the left of which was covered by his blond hair that was combed drastically to the side. The rest of his face was concealed by what at first glance appeared to be a second pair of jeans, complete with belt, but was actually a denim dress shirt with an outrageously long collar that completed his ensemble of denim waistcoat and, of course, a pair of jeans.

That didn't change the fact that he had goddamn _face pockets_ though and Katsuki found himself wondering what the hell he kept in those. If it weren't for the fact that he knew very well just how powerful the man before him could be, the intern would have had a hard time taking him seriously.

Which made it stick in his craw a little bit that Captain Pants-Face was chuckling at him.

"I'm sorry, it's just the look on your face tells me that you've gotten sick of hearing that line already. Still, it's the sort of thing you should get used to, Bakugo-san. You'll end up hearing the same sorts of lines over and over again from your fans, so you'll just have to hike up that self-control of yours and keep your hold on your temper straight and tight. Just like a good pair of jeans."

"You know me already, huh?"

"I sure do; I watch the Sports Festival just like everyone else, you know? That Aoyama kid had a certain… _je ne sais quoi_ , but I decided that I'd rather have you. I make it a policy to only take on one project at a time, you see. That's actually what the phone call was about: a certain fashion line wanted me to help design their next pair of jeans, but I told them I had something else going on at the moment."

"Project?"

"Oh my, yes. I saw occasional moments of softness from you throughout the festival, but your usual persona is so rough and intimidating! You would be so much more popular if we smoothed out those edges a little. A bit of artistic, intentional fraying can give jeans a striking, tough appearance, but one must be sure that they do not overdo it to the point where it just looks sloppy."

 _Holy shit, he's become more denim than man. I'll have to try speaking his language._

"What about black jeans?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, with normal jeans, the inside and the outside are different shades, so a bit of fraying goes a long way. With some black jeans though, the inside and the outside are the same color. You can't rely on subtlety for those: you need to go to the extreme or accessorize them with some metal."

"Bakugo-san, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Best Jeanist's visible eye widened slightly.

"That's right. I'm doing a bit of rebranding, but I'm taking it in the opposite direction of what you were thinking. There are enough nice-guy Heroes out there already and I wouldn't be staying true to myself if I did something like that anyway." Katsuki grinned at the now-enthralled Number Four Hero, "Sorry, but you're gonna end up helping to design something after all."

"I daresay I might."

"Easy on the denim though."

"No promises."

* * *

 **Izuku's been given a condensed version of the grand tour and Katsuki's wasting no time in getting to work on Best Jeanist. We'll be checking in with a few other internships as it seems appropriate, but the main focus will of course be Izuku.**

 **And hey, if you enjoy the work I do here (and I hope that you do if you've made it 50+ chapters into this story!) then consider checking out my Pat_reon, Fires of Creation where I post not only bonus content for Torchbearer such as chapter art and audiobook recordings, but also completely original work, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, art commissions, a gaming group and even personalized monthly writings for those who shoot for the top tier!  
**

 **Of course, we also have a Discord server where we can hang out and chat! Go to** ** **pat_reon*dot*com/FiresOfCreation (just remove the underscore and replace *dot* with a dot) to see what it's all about (and you get a face reveal out of it so, bonus?).  
****

 ** **Next time, Izuku will get to test out his new costume and we get Endeavor's take on why he can't seem to use his new battle mode correctly. Will this finally help him to take things to the next level?! You'll just have to keep reading!****

 ** **Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Hyper and all of my other patrons. You guys are helping me live the dream.****

 ** **And as always, thank you for reading!****


	54. Chapter 52: It's A Start

**Like what I do here and want to see more? Check out my Pat_reon, Fires of Creation, for bonus Torchbearer content including chapter art, an audiobook adaptation and a patron-exclusive Discord server available to all patrons regardless of how much they give. Review time regular, The 0bservanc3, has even opted for the Beacon level, meaning that everyone gets an additional piece of writing to enjoy every single month with the first of these slated to be released this upcoming Wednesday! Just Google "pat_reon fires of creation" (without the underscore) and you should find it easily. Even if you don't pledge, you'll still be able to see the banner art, which includes a look at Izuku's new costume!**

 **In other news, we have surpassed 2,000 favorites and are rapidly closing in on the 1,500 reviews mark! This is, as always, fantastic. YOU are, as always, fantastic.**

 **Review time:**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r, MarvelNinja10, ProjectIceman, Corruption of Saints, Constipated Genius, The Keeper of Worlds, The Incredible Muffin, Superf7n Guy, Slayer76, Guest, Bisexual athiest idiot, StandupSitdown, HyperNinja203, DragonBall Shin, The 0bservanc3, Ooobserver : I knew that I'd hit it out of the park with the "he's more denim than man" line. Besides that, a lot of people are really into Katsuki's internship with Best Jeanist, so you can bet I'll have at least one more scene showing that, possibly more.  
**

 **inFamousSlyMonkey, uchihaNaruto247, Constipated Genius, Slayer76, The 0bservanc3 : It's always nice to see when a last-minute character ends up well-received. The idea of Saotome occurred to me when I realized that Endeavor hasn't been shown to have any Sidekicks, which is unusual for an agency as large as his. I thought "what if he just leaves his Sidekick at the agency to guard it when he's gone?" and boom: Saotome. We will be seeing more of her later on, for sure.  
**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r, inFamousSlyMonkey, The Incredible Muffin, Superf7n Guy : People seem to be digging Endeavor's teachings so far, which is great, since we've got more of that this chapter! As for what he's able to teach Izuku regarding OFA, if anything...keep reading!  
**

 **MarvelNinja10, Batmarcus, StandupSitdown : I'm not at all surprised to see that there are people excited about Izuku's new costume (and Katsuki's too, but we're not there just yet). Your questions will be answered...MOMENTARILY!  
**

 **ProjectIceman : You are quite right! Mitsuki Bakugo is/was a model (I think) and Masaru Bakugo either is a fashion designer or works for one in some capacity (I'm thinking the latter).**

 **RPGuy777 : I'm always honored when I hear that people like my story so much that they binge through the whole thing. I do indeed try to keep my time skips to a minimum, since to me that's just more time that I can use for various things. Same deal with not focusing on Izuku all the time. He's not the center of the universe and sometimes it's also nice to see him from other people's perspective. I feel like I can paint a more complete picture that way.**

 **HyperNinja203 : Katsuki may very well have picked up some jargon about jeans on-site, but remember that his father (and most likely mother) have careers related to fashion design. Even if he doesn't really care about it, he probably picked some things up by osmosis.**

 **Reverseflash : I look forward to seeing you at Fires of Creation! It's not going anywhere, so if you need some time to get things in order, don't worry about it. Definitely more Endeavor in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy!**

 **tacktician : There will definitely be more showmanship going on. As for the fights in-question, I do have a couple of ideas, but I haven't nailed anything down quite yet.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : All Might has definitely had his reckless nature come back to bite him more than once. Whether that's what caused the mess with Nana, I'm not sure. Izuku definitely has plenty of things he can learn from Endeavor instead of Gran Torino. As for All For One somehow flying under the radar, now he did that was [REDACTED], by virtue of him being [REDACTED]. This will all be shown later on, but I feel fine with giving you that preview!**

 **I would most definitely assume that Hero Agencies are built to withstand earthquakes and such. In fact, I believe that many IRL buildings are built that way in known quake zones! Good eye regarding Saotome. Honestly, her looks are fairly generic for a Japanese woman (dark hair, dark eyes, etc). As for why I didn't describe her, it was to trick the reader (as Izuku had been) into thinking that she was of no real consequence. A background character. The no smoking thing is because smoke gets _everywhere_ and leaves an unpleasant odor. Incidentally, I've never actually seen smoke coming off of Endeavor. Maybe this is because whatever fuel he uses doesn't create fumes? The same goes for Shoto and Izuku, now I think about it.**

 **I agree that moving effectively in jeans (or perhaps having jeans specially-tailored to allow for freedom of movement?) would be a core tenet of the Genius Office.**

 **DragonStorm88 : I'm always happy to hear that I've helped to inspire others. I've definitely made a few odd decisions in Torchbearer, but I go with my gut and it usually seems to work out in the end. I'll give you the same advice I give anyone who asks: Write the kind of story that you would want to read. As long as you like it, that's all that matters. Other people liking it too is just a bonus. That's what I've been doing since day one and it seems to be working out alright XD**

 **StahlTheAegis, Shiranai Atsune, OmniAxilla, DblHi5, 61394, Sentinel07 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, anyone else wondering what U.A.'s resident tentacle monster is up to?**

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Two: It's A Start

Mezo Shoji was focused. This was not unusual, given what he often used his Quirk for, but familiarity did not mean that he could afford to be passive.

Especially when he was on something of a manhunt.

Shoji had been assigned a test of sorts by the one serving as his host Hero for his internship. Specifically, his host had hidden himself somewhere in the thick of the large crowd of people who constantly bustled about a high-traffic city plaza and it was Mezo's task to locate him without drawing an undue amount of attention to himself.

At first glance, the rules might have seemed unfairly stacked against Mezo. After all, he was a fairly noticeable individual even when he wasn't doing anything in particular, given that he had six arms and was taller than the majority of the population. His host had thrown him something of a bone regarding this, promising that he would act as though he did not know who Mezo was and would only react to him if he started acting suspiciously.

Mezo was in street clothes, which would help him stay under the radar, but it also meant that any overt public Quirk usage would alert those nearby to possible Villain activity (even though he was technically under the supervision of a Pro hero and was therefore allowed to use his Quirk). Mezo had devised a strategy to cope with this which took advantage of his obvious status as the holder of a Mutant-type Quirk and had transformed his four Dupli-Arms with the intention of holding the transformation and only switching when he was able to be subtle about it.

Currently, he was sporting two extra ears, an extra eye and an extra nose. He was getting some funny looks, certainly, but no more so than anybody with a particularly eye-catching Quirk might.

 _Keep moving. Don't interrupt the flow of the crowd. Match their pace. When looking, try to avoid moving my head too much. My Tentacleye will help with that, but I can't be obvious that I'm looking for someone. I'll have to content myself with a more limited cone of vision. Multiple passes may be necessary._

It was a daunting task, most certainly, but Mezo did have one advantage: He knew exactly who he was looking for, which meant he could filter out anyone who didn't match his target's rough physical proportions.

 _There._

It also just so happened that his target cut a rather noticeable profile, albeit not in the same way as himself.

"Well, aren't you just adorable! You enjoy your tea now."

"Thank you!" there was something just a little bit off about the responding voice. It sounded false to Mezo's enhanced array of audial sensors, as though it were being purposefully pitched upwards. He changed course slightly, as if to pass by the outdoor cafe. As he drew nearer, his extra nose picked up the scent of a very particular type of shampoo coming from the supposed child. Convinced that he had located his target, Mezo placed a hand on the "child's" shoulder.

"You know, Sensei, most children nowadays don't wear hats with propellers on them."

"Ah, Shoji-kun! And here I thought I might have time to enjoy this cup of tea before you found me." Nezu greeted him with an approving smile and a twinkle in his beady eyes, "Call me Nezu while we're in the field though; there's no sense in breaking cover."

Were Mezo like most other boys his age, he would have likely said something to the effect of "what cover?" but he understood the lesson that the principal of U.A. was trying to teach him, so he accepted his words with a nod.

"Now," Nezu adopted a more business-like tone after taking a sip of his tea, "as you have seen fit to accept my invitation, you likely have some questions regarding your internship. I recognize that I have been very circumspect about it so far, not without reason, but since you have passed my initial test, I feel that you have earned some answers. In keeping with the spirit of my plans for you, however, I shall only answer a single question at a time."

 _Another test then._

Mezo considered what he knew about his principal. Nezo had a reputation for having a genius-level intellect and he was something of a curiosity by virtue of being an animal which possessed a Quirk. He had been experimented on in the past and had personally seen to it that the laws governing how animals with Quirks were to be treated, particularly those with Quirks that provided them with advanced intelligence, were given a thorough rework. Any creature that could demonstrate itself to be sapient was now to be given the same rights and privileges afforded any other person.

Even so, his past experiences still left him with certain feelings regarding humans, particularly scientists. He played his cards close to the chest and he prioritized the education and well-being of his students above all else, understanding that children were blameless and deserving of his protection. Perhaps it was a part of his residual animal instincts regarding the care of one's young?

Regardless, he had sought Mezo out specifically. Their atypical student-teacher interactions regarding the USJ incident aside, this didn't seem like the sort of thing that was in-character for Nezu. Favoritism was _not_ a defining characteristic of his, at least as far as Mezo could tell.

The obvious question was "what are we going to do/focus on during this internship?" but Mezo didn't ask it by virtue of already having an idea as to the answer. Intelligence was Nezu's strong suit and he had made a point of referencing his "plans" for Mezo. Given the nature of their past interactions and the sort of test that Nezu had given him, was _still_ giving him, Mezo was most likely going to be getting a crash-course in intel.

Given that he trusted Nezu to know better than him how to go about such a thing, Mezo felt comfortable following whatever plans he might have. There was, therefore, no point in questioning him about them; he would know in due time. Given that, there weren't really any questions he absolutely _needed_ to have answered.

Well, he still had one, so he might as well use it to sate his curiosity.

"I am aware that, as Pro Heroes, U.A. teachers are allowed to take on interns. However, as far as I am aware, you have seldom done this. How often do you take interns, Nezu?"

Nezu began to chuckle and had to visibly stop himself from breaking into full-blown laughter.

"My, what a pleasant question! You are quite correct in your deductions, Shoji-kun: I do not often take interns. I feel, however, that you will prove to be an enjoyable exception. You possess the rare combination of a gift which is well-suited to the more subtle aspects of Heroism and the necessary level of discipline to refine said gift. I may not be as physically demanding a taskmaster as some others you could have chosen, but rest assured that I will more than make up for that with mental exhaustion. You have entrusted yourself to me and I have a full week of uninterrupted time to make something of you, starting now. Why don't you order some tea and we can get started? My treat, of course."

Mezo did not hesitate to do just that, thinking that he would probably need the effects of the soothing beverage sooner rather than later, given the quantity of knowledge his teacher clearly wished to impart combined with his rather...verbose...nature.

Even so, he would endure. This was, as he often concluded, the way he could be most useful.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror in Endeavor's private training room on floor forty-nine and flexed the fingers of one hand experimentally. The thick gloves, similar in appearance to those from his old costume, conformed to his hands surprisingly well, allowing for fairly dexterous movements. He wasn't going to perform surgery or anything with them on, but it didn't seem as though they were going to get in the way either.

His respirator, elbow pads, thigh-length greaves, red utility belt and red shoes looked much the same as his old costume as well, but he knew that these versions all used Endeavor's patented material, Enterprium, as their base, making them stronger, more durable and more heat-resistant.

It was a bit of a juxtaposition that they largely felt the same. Maybe even a bit more comfortable.

The most visually striking change was in the final aspect of his new costume.

Izuku's new bodysuit was the same shade of dark blue as Endeavor's and was more form-fitting than his old one. It hugged his body, but did not feel restrictive. As he slowly struck various poses in the mirror to test his range of motion, the suit stretched and flexed as though it were a second skin.

The second visual change was the dull orange lines that traced his arms, shoulders and torso, both front and back. They appeared to be an altered design of the pattern that adorned his old costume as well as the U.A. sports uniform.

There was one noticeable absence though: the "bunny ears" that had adorned his previous suit had been replaced by a metallic piece on his forehead. Izuku knew that Endeavor and All Might didn't have the best relationship, so it made sense that he would have done away with that particular aspect of the costume, but he still felt a sense of loss.

 _Was this what Giru-san meant when he said it wasn't his idea?_

 _He didn't really seem all that apologetic, did he? More like he had snuck something past his boss._

 _You're right. Maybe…_

Izuku took a slow breath, bracing himself for the possibility that he was wrong.

Then he ignited himself.

The familiar veil of flames covered his body and the suit immediately sprang into action. The dull orange lines now glowed brightly like coals, matching the change that his eyes underwent when he channeled One For All. After a brief pause, less than a second, really, the headpiece revealed its secret.

Two tongues of flame shot out from a pair of holes that Izuku had not noticed before, each projecting at roughly a forty-five-degree angle before curving upwards and reaching a foot or so in length before the flames began to dissipate.

Izuku grinned beneath his respirator as he realized that he had not lost the homage to his Hero after all; it had simply evolved.

 _Thank you, Giru-san._

Izuku extinguished his flames after several seconds, not wanting to use all of his fuel without reason. He was surprised when the lines kept glowing and the flames kept spewing from his headpiece, even if they did seem to be shrinking very slowly.

"The suit is venting itself." Endeavor's deep voice explained as the man himself appeared in the mirror slightly off to one side, "The lines are the exterior portion of a heat conduction system that runs throughout your entire costume, terminating at your forehead. This excess heat is concentrated enough that it exits as flames. The process of removing the excess heat from your skin as quickly as possible is part of what prevents you from burning yourself."

"Wouldn't that make the lines a weak point, then? If one gets cut or damaged, will it stop working?" Izuku inquired.

"Not so easily as that. As I said, they are merely the visible, exterior portion of the system. Your suit, similarly to my own, employs a triple-layered heat transference system. Unless part of your suit is sliced open or torn away from you completely, it will continue to function. I would not worry overmuch about this, however, as the material is designed to be highly durable. If it becomes significantly damaged, you will most likely have more to worry about."

"Well, that's reassuring." Todoroki's sarcastic comment signaled his arrival in the room as well and Izuku turned to see his new costume.

Unlike Izuku's costume, where most of the individual components looked the same, the only component that had stayed the same for Todoroki was his white boots. The metal-plated combat vest, brown utility belt with metal capsules hanging off of it and dark blue (though not as dark as Endeavor or Izuku's costumes) pants and high-collared jacket with elbow-length sleeves were all new.

"Hybrid weave." he answered Izuku's unasked question, clearly being able to read his expression, "Since I use both heat and cold, straight Enterprium wouldn't have worked for me. I can regulate my own temperature, so it's not a problem."

"And the capsules?"

"Water, medicine, first-aid supplies. You probably have some too, since they're pretty basic."

Izuku patted his belt pouches and noticed that they did indeed have things in them. He started rummaging around and discovered that Todoroki was correct. A small roll of both gauze and medical tape, antiseptic spray, two kinds of painkillers (that second kind looked like serious business), a small bottle of anti-inflammitories and a compact epinephrine pen, at first glance into his two pouches.

 _That's…actually a really good idea. I feel kind of bad for not thinking of that._

 _It's what you're here for, right?_

That was true. The whole point of the internship was to gain practical knowledge and experience. Endeavor had hardly given him more than a minute of direction since he had arrived and he had already learned a few things.

Izuku didn't agree with everything the man said or did, especially after learning Todoroki's history, but there was no denying that he was a top-notch professional.

"Alright, that's enough standing around for now." Endeavor decided, "Shoto, I want you to start off with your flame-regulation exercises. You'll be doing those twice a day until you're able to quickly adjust your output by increments of ten percent, then once a day until you're able to do it by increments of five. It's a patch job, to be sure, but we can't make up for a lifetime of deficit in only a week, so for now I'll settle for serviceable. I expect you to at least be able to complete the first phase of the exercises by the end of the week."

"Whatever." in spite of his response, Todoroki dutifully took his place at one corner of the room and began shooting flames at the wall. Izuku was momentarily alarmed before remembering what Saotome had told him about the room being heavily reinforced. Most likely it was designed for this type of thing.

"As for you, Midoriya," Endeavor addressed Izuku, getting his attention, "now that we've confirmed that your costume is in working order, it's time that we addressed your efficiency problem. Judging from your performance at the Sports Festival, it seems that you are able to consume Quirk fire?"

"Yes." Izuku confirmed. He had indeed swallowed some of Todoroki's flames when he had unleashed them on him and found that they worked just as well in terms of replenishing his supply. The flavor had been unusual, like a shot of adrenaline with hints of something else. It was possible that the other boy's emotional state had overridden whatever the usual "taste" would have been. An experiment for later.

 _Should I tell Ochako that you're planning on "experimenting" with Todoroki?_

 _You know full well that's_ not _what I mean. And can you even do that?_

This internal conversation was interrupted by Endeavor extending his hand palm-up and generating a small fireball.

"Refuel. Signal when you are done."

Izuku complied, moving to remover his respirator, but stopping when Endeavor shook his head. Izuku took his meaning and attempted to consume the flames while still wearing the device. Much to his surprise, it worked seamlessly, drawing the flames in as if they were air.

"It only clamps down and begins filtering the air when it detects contaminants such as smoke or poison. Otherwise it allows for free airflow, which will not quench the flames." the Hero explained.

Due to the small volume of the flames, which was kept consistent by Endeavor, they travelled at a steady pace, which made it easy to keep track of how much he needed. Unlike before when he had consumed a Todoroki's flames, these felt...heavy. Sober. After a short moment, he waved his hand and Endeavor stopped generating more fire.

"Interesting. I felt a small tug on my facial flames, but it was not enough to disturb them. You are able to adjust the strength of your pull?"

"Yes, I can adjust the strength to a certain degree. The pull is also stronger for greater quantities of fire."

"Linear or exponential?"

"I haven't had much occasion to practice with specific amounts, but I think linear."

"I see." there was a brief pause while Endeavor digested this information, "Explain to me the process behind your technique. The one you used while looking in the mirror."

"I can choose which part of my body the flames are expelled from. If I isolate it to just an arm, for instance, only that arm is strengthened and the flames only come out from there. By expelling flames from my entire body at minimal strength, I gain a full-body increase to my physical abilities as opposed to the spotty, isolated ones I can create otherwise. It makes my movements flow together much better and increases my combat effectiveness."

"That it does. Yet you have a very restrictive time limit."

"Yes. My minimum level of output is five percent. Because the flames run wild, the output is at a constant five percent every second." Izuku demonstrated by igniting himself again, then struggled to keep speaking as he took the next step, drawing the flames tight to his body with Flame Magnet "I can…reign them in…to make it more efficient…but I can't…fight like this." he released the flames entirely, "It's like I'm trying to push them out and pull them in at the same time. It's contradictory."

Endeavor thought for a moment before turning to face the opposite wall. He formed a ball of flames in his hand and clenched his fingers, causing the ball to transform into a sort of javelin. He then drew back his arm and flung the javelin at the wall, causing it to explode against it.

"Three steps. Generate, shape, throw." he explained. Izuku nodded, not quite understanding.

Endeavor then drew his arm back, creating another javelin as he did so and threw it immediately, causing an almost-identical small explosion.

"One step. Same result. How can this be possible?" he turned and looked at Izuku.

"Well, Quirks are physical abilities, so they can be trained to be more efficient." Izuku began, "It might be less that the number of steps has been reduced and more that you did the first two quickly and did the third in tandem with the first two."

Endeavor gave him a flat stare and held up his hand, generating an "X" made of flames with no visible sphere phase beforehand.

"Incorrect. I can shape my flames according to my will, provided that the shape is not to complex. If I do not focus on anything in particular, then the default shape is roughly spherical."

Izuku thought about this.

"Then you were able to skip directly to the second step."

"I must still generate the flames in order to shape them. The first and second step were well and truly combined into one."

"…How?" Izuku couldn't understand.

"It is my Quirk; why should I not be able to command it as I choose?" Izuku stared back at him, "My Quirk allows me to generate and exhibit a modicum of control over my own flames. That is all. Where in that description does it say that those steps must be taken separately? Who decided that? Who besides me has the _right_ to decide that?" he then pointed at Izuku, "The same goes for you. You can pull flames in and spew them back out. What part of that says it has to happen separately? Who decided that? _You_ did, Midoriya, and quite frankly it's an asinine decision that you should undo immediately. Work on that while I check in with Shoto." He allowed Izuku to refuel again and then walked away.

Izuku stared at himself in the mirror, frustrated that he couldn't explain the actuality of the situation to Endeavor.

 _It's not the same as him! One For All and Flame Magnet are two separate Quirks! I didn't decide that!_

 _Didn't you?_

… _What?_

 _When you look inside yourself, do you feel two different Quirks? Of course you don't; you feel the flames waiting to be called upon. That's what your Quirk does, Izuku Midoriya: It's not something so trivial as attracting and expelling flames._

 _What are you talking about?!_

 _We've been over this: I couldn't say it if you didn't already know it._ I _am yours._ I _am_ you _._

Why so much emphasis on "I?" It was a strange thing. Really, Other Izuku had been getting stranger as time went on. More assertive, more insistent. It was almost as though he were every bit as frustrated as Izuku was.

Was it possible that he knew things? Knew, but couldn't say? After all, the rules as he had explained them were that he could only _say_ things if Izuku already knew them. Who had decided that he couldn't _know_ things that he wasn't allowed to say?

 _Who decided that?_

Green eyes shifted to orange in the mirror, glowing like coals, but Izuku didn't see them.

 _Who has the_ right _to decide that? All Might? He gave up that right when he gave the power to you._

" _The truth is that my Quirk was passed down to me. Like the Olympic Torch...And now it just might be your turn."_

The torch. The sacred flame of the Symbol of Peace…

…belonged to the Symbol of Peace no longer.

" _One For All evolves over time…That power was given shape by those who received it…a living, breathing thing molded by the Quirks and essences of those who came before."_

 _Call upon the flames. Drag them kicking and screaming to the surface! If they resist, then run them over with sheer willpower!_

" _This is their legacy…and mine."_

 _That's the problem. You've learned to let off the gas, but you never stopped turning the key. You've been allowing the engine to fight you._

There was a burning inside of him that flooded through his entire being. It was funny how he had only really noticed it the first one or two times. Back when he hadn't thought that he understood how his Quirk worked and was just running off of pure instinct.

That was really what it boiled down to. One of his greatest strengths was Quirk analysis, but he had applied it incorrectly to the one that arguably mattered most.

 _For once in your life, don't think. Feel._

Izuku dove headfirst into the sea of flames grasping for something that he instinctively knew was there. He found it. A handle. He dragged it upwards out of the fire, inch by inch. It was heavy. Unfamiliar.

Not for much longer.

The lines on Izuku's suit had started to glow again, getting steadily brighter as the air around him grew hotter and hotter, forming a heat haze.

Todoroki was the first to notice, not that Izuku knew.

"That's new. It almost looks like he's struggling with it."

Endeavor narrowed his eyes and observed the boy carefully.

The ignition did not come as it usually did, swift and greedy. After all, Izuku wasn't simply looking to ignite the fuel, he was looking to start a chain reaction that would sustain itself. The RPM on a car always shot up when one first turned it on, but after a moment it would calm down and stabilize.

A small spark wouldn't do the trick. He needed a big one.

 _If you're sticking with the vehicle analogy, try injecting some fuel first._

In the sea of flames, Izuku ignited his right hand and immediately felt the energy being sucked into the thing he was holding. As this happened, he noticed that it immediately became lighter.

 _Fine. You want it? Take it, but don't expect me to give you this much every time I do this._

Izuku flooded the object with the equivalent of a fifty-percent attack and it shot upwards out of the fire.

An explosion ripped through the air of the training room, cracking the reinforced glass of the mirror and sending a wave of heat washing over the occupants. If the two Todorokis had not been on the opposite side of the room, they would likely have been bowled over by the sudden force.

Within his mindscape, Izuku held the torch above his head, burning proudly.

 _Stand tall. Burn brightly. Look upon yourself and name that which you have become._

Izuku returned to himself, staring at his cracked reflection. He saw what he had done with his Quirk and smirked beneath his respirator. In a low voice, speaking only to himself, he gave a name to the only Quirk in his possession and the technique that had been born of it.

"Torchbearer: Flame Cowl."

The technique was much easier to name, since he had been thinking of it ever since he had first used the imperfect version of it. He could feel that the fuel consumption had been drastically lowered, maybe to as much as a sixth of what it had been before. On a full tank, that might equate to two minutes or more.

The flames flickered across his body much like they had before, but they seemed somehow smoother and less wild. Izuku experimentally threw a few jabs and found that the boost to his strength and speed was still as strong as it had been before.

This…he could _use_ this.

"Well." Endeavor crossed his arms and gave Izuku a look of approval as he approached, "I'm sure that you would have figured this out on your own eventually, given how far along you already were, but the world does not wait. Something will have to be done about that initial explosion, but still, it's a start."

Izuku agreed.

It was most definitely a start.

* * *

 **I hope that the logic of how Endeavor was able to help Izuku achieve Flame Cowl in spite of not knowing about OFA is acceptable. If this seems like a sudden breakthrough, try and remember that Izuku has been messing around with the idea of FC for significantly longer than in canon. He was genuinely close to figuring it out, he just had to get over his mental block regarding OFA and Flame Magnet being separate Quirks. Sometimes a well-placed pointer from an unbiased third party can be all you need.**

 **That's one of the reasons why I value you guy's feedback so much, in case you didn't know!**

 **Speaking of value, there's some really cool shit over at Fires of Creation and I promise I'm not just saying that because I run the place! See for yourself!** ** **Google "pat_reon fires of creation" (without the underscore) and even if you decide not to lend your support right now, you'll still get a look at Izuku's new costume in the banner art along with a look at yours truly in the pitch video!  
****

 ** **Next time, Izuku is more powerful than we've ever seen him in Torchbearer, but will that stop him from getting his ass handed to him by Endeavor? Probably not. He also finds out what his living arrangements are going to be for the duration of the internship.  
****

 ** **Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Hyper and all of my other patrons who support what I do!****

 ** **And as always, thank you for reading!****


	55. Chapter 53: Deku vs Endeavor

**Not too much to say this time. Production on the chapter was pretty smooth and Fires of Creation is trucking right on along, growing slowly but steadily. Check it out at pat_reonDOTcom/FiresOfCreation! Just remove the underscore and replace DOT with, you guessed it, a dot.**

 **Review time:**

 **Superf7n Guy, D3lph0xL0v3r, Batmarcus, DblHi5, The Keeper of Worlds, Slayer76, The Incredible Muffin, Ooobserver, ProjectIceman, Constipated Genius, Gako959, The 0bservanc3 : The big moment where Izuku completes Flame Cowl and embraces Torchbearer as the name of his Quirk is a moment that I've had planned pretty much since I came up with the name for this fic, so needless to say it's great that so many of you enjoyed it! For those who are confused, Torchbearer is the name of the Quirk that resulted from Flame Magnet merging with One For All.  
**

 **Superf7n Guy, D3lph0xL0v3r, Batmarcus, The Incredible Muffin, The 0bservanc3 : Nice to see that folks are liking Izuku's new costume! This thing really elevates his combat effectiveness and staying power alongside Flame Cowl. For those who haven't seen yet, you can check out what it looks like, at least from the back, at Fires of Creation! It's part of the banner artwork.  
**

 **Corruption of Saints, D3lph0xL0v3r, Batmarcus, The Incredible Muffin, Ooobserver, Constipated Genius, The 0bservanc3 : People are reacting favorably to Mezo's internship with Nezu. I've actually had this planned for a while since he's one of the students that we never really learn much about in terms of what they did during their internships.  
**

 **KTman891, Gokuu the Carrot, The 0bservanc3 : A few of you noticed that Endeavor seemed to be channeling the spirit of a certain Lion Sin of Pride. It makes a certain amount of sense when I think about it.  
**

 **Corruption of Saints : You are absolutely right about the double-edged nature of producing extreme heat in a crowd of friendlies. In fact, that gets brought up...shortly. I'm also not totally sure I know who Enjiro is. It might just be slipping my mind.**

 **Superf7n Guy : It definitely feels nice to finally be able to show what's going on with Other Izuku, at least a little bit. As for being the most powerful in 1-A, I'm not sure, but he's definitely up there. Shoto and Katsuki can still give him a run for his money and if Shinso catches him in his Quirk there's not much he can do about it unless he was actively burning himself beforehand. Speaking of Katsuki, I'm sure he will definitely have something to say about Izuku's sudden penchant for explosions.**

 **As for using more Endeavor-esque techniques like wall running, it's a possibility for sure. If he does learn how to do it, it won't be until later once he gets better about controlling his output.**

 **tacktician : That's a really good idea! I wonder if Izuku will think of that? Possibly in this very chapter?**

 **StorySmith405 : Flame Magnet and One For All did indeed merge. Torchbearer is the Quirk that resulted from this.**

 **Shinobi scribe of the kage : I do indeed update on a schedule. Torchbearer updates every other Sunday and I try and give advance notice and/or post something smaller if I know it's not going to happen.**

 **StandupSitdown : You're on the right track in terms of Other Izuku. Good to know that the reasoning behind the breakthrough was easy to digest.**

 **avidreaded : You are indeed correct! Thank you for pointing this out. I have replaced sentient with sapient.**

 **DragonBall Shin : I am indeed trying to give Izuku a more nuanced development than "Gotta get stronk!" Of course, it helps that he's got a Quirk that lends itself well to finesse as opposed to brute force.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Only four of Mezo's limbs can transform in the first place, but yes, he can create limbs on top of the limbs. He's not doing this because, as you say, he's trying to be as inconspicuous as a guy like him can actually be. He will get better at it during training camp, of course. I think All Might posing is mostly just him being hammy, though it would probably help get everything situated costume-wise post-transformation.**

 **Izuku won't have to deal with Other Izuku constantly griping at him unless he's done something to earn it or Other Izuku's trying to make a point. Canon! Izuku can indeed hold Full Cowl for as long as he can stay focused on it, meaning that he has the advantage in operational time over Torchbearer! Izuku provided that nobody smacks the cowl off of him, which has happened a couple times. On the other side of things, Flame Cowl is definitely more powerful than Full Cowl by virtue of having a fire element, simple ranged attacks, burns by itself without him focusing on it, etc. The time limit and need for fuel is me trying to keep him balanced and not just turn him into a Gary Stu.**

 **We will definitely get to see bits and pieces of some other internships here and there.**

 **Ezylryb, Shiranai Atsune, PokeKing Charizard, Legomasterlord, HighPaladinRin, Tonlor FuryJoe, Houshikun001, Guest, HyperNinja203, OmniAxilla, Guest, Karystma, Sentinel07 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **And now, unusually for Torchbearer, we pick up exactly where we left off last time!**

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Three: Deku vs. Endeavor

"Well. I'm sure that you would have figured this out on your own eventually, given how far along you already were, but the world does not wait. Something will have to be done about that initial explosion, but still, it's a start."

Izuku Midoriya looked at his reflection as the Number Two Hero voiced his approval, but uncharacteristically for the Pro Hero fanboy, he was only half-listening. He was carefully taking in everything about his current state. The way he looked, the way he felt, the slow, steady drain he felt on his internal fuel reserves.

The way Flame Cowl was simply burning without any input from him. That in particular was a new sensation. Up until then, he had always needed to focus on maintaining a constant level of output on his flames in order to keep the technique active. It had been a large part of why the technique had been so inefficient up until then: fire did not require constant attention to burn. Merely a spark, a source of fuel and oxygen.

"I was trying too hard." Izuku muttered to himself. Apparently, he had been a bit louder than he intended, as Endeavor gave a half-nod of understanding.

"Fire rebels against nearly any form of control. It can be guided, used, directed, but men have known since ancient times that it is _nobody's_ plaything. Be sure before you let it loose."

Izuku understood. Now that he could use his flames more freely, he would need to be careful not to become complacent. He would need to find a middle path between restricting himself and letting the flames burn freely, as was their nature.

With that thought in mind, he clamped down on his Quirk and Flame Cowl was extinguished.

"This does change things ever so slightly." Endeavor continued, causing Izuku to turn around and look at him properly, "I originally intended to take you both out into the field as soon as possible, today in fact, but every new technique needs proper testing before it can be used in a live situation. Today will serve as a cram session for both your Flame Cowl and Shoto's left side. Depending on how that goes we will leave for the field either tomorrow or Tuesday."

"Where in the field, exactly?" Todoroki shot his father a suspicious look, as though he already had an idea.

"The place most worth our time: Hosu City."

Izuku gulped as he fully understood what the Flame Hero was saying.

They were going after the Hero Killer.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The man formerly known as Chizome Akaguro stared at his reflection in a mirror that was still fogged up from the shower he had just taken. He had always been lean, but his time living a lifestyle on-the-run and with no place to truly call home had stripped his body of all extraneous matter. Even so, in spite of himself nearly two weeks of a consistent level of shelter and two square-ish meals a day (the League of Villains, while by no means destitute, still worked to conserve resources) had served to fill him out a bit. His cheeks were a bit less hollow, his eyes perhaps a little less sunken and his ribs not quite as visible.

Really, combined with the sling that his left arm had been freed of only a couple of days prior, this was the closest thing to healthy that he had looked in a long time. He even felt well-rested.

… _I missed this._

He admitted the simple fact to himself in the deepest confines of his mind. His conviction was as strong as ever and his purpose was unwavering, but he had nearly forgotten what it had felt like to have something resembling a sanctuary. Had anyone told him that he would still be there after not just a few days, but _two weeks_ , he would have scoffed at them.

Yet, he _had_ stayed. Was _still_ staying. And, much to his shock, he felt no immediate inclination to leave.

Did this make him weak? It was not as though he had sought this out. Indeed, Shigaraki had come to _him_ and offered him a place to stay. Granted, the Hero Killer had been fairly certain that he wanted something in return. He and Kurogiri had both said as much, but it had been a few days before they had broached the topic.

" _You're looking better."_

" _I'm hardly fit."_

" _I said 'better,' not that you don't still look like shit. You just look like your HP gauge isn't in the red anymore."_

It had taken some time for Stain to get used to what he had mentally termed "Shigaraki-isms." Toga, who apparently had no difficulty understanding him, occasionally translated when he was in a particularly reference-heavy mood. He understood some of what the League's leader said now, but some things still had to be taken from context.

" _Anyway, my point is that I think it's time for a little exposition scene. You asked what we wanted from you before, but you were still pretty on-edge then so it wasn't the time to talk about it. The social DC is always higher for hostile characters, after all."_

" _Fine. What do you want, then?"_

" _Going off your usual pattern, it's probably safe to say you're not done with Hosu yet, right?"_

" _That is accurate."_

" _Once you're back in fighting form, you'll probably want to revisit that zone, right? Clean up on the Experience Points and shit that you missed before?"_

"… _Something like that."_

" _I want in."_

" _Excuse me?"_

" _Look, cards on the table, I think we both know that I'd like to add you to the party, right?"_

" _Whether that's what_ I _want is a different story."_

" _And I get that. Getting a new party member, especially one like you, usually isn't as easy as just inviting them. You need to do a loyalty quest or something with them first. That's what this is: give me a chance to show you how beneficial working with the League of Villains can be for you. You wanna kill Heroes? I'll hand you the keys to an all-you-can-kill_ buffet _! Believe you me, I've got an awesome way of drawing attention."_

" _Mass slaughter is not my goal."_

" _Could've fooled me."_

" _I aim to cull the unworthy. The false Heroes who are undeserving of that name. I am a Villain because of my methods, not my cause."_

" _Fine. It'll still be easier to pick and choose if there's a bunch of them all in one place, right?"_

Stain had to admit, there had been a certain logic to Shigaraki's plan. It was on a larger scale than how he usually operated, but that was by and large because he was but one man with a Quirk that was well-suited to ambush tactics. Perhaps such a plan was worth a try? If the League proved to be incompatible with his methods in the field, he could always abandon them.

He had agreed and that had been that. Shigaraki said they would talk more about it when he was in fighting shape again. As he examined himself in the mirror and stretched experimentally, he decided that the pain, while not entirely gone, was tolerable. He wrapped a towel around his waist and returned to his room (much to the delight of a blushing Toga when he passed her in the hall). He dressed himself and moved upstairs where Kurogiri, true to form, was already up and about.

Unusually, so was Shigaraki. Perhaps he had been talking to his "Sensei" again? Stain had caught snatches of conversation once or twice but had not spoken to the man himself. Whatever the case, this worked out just fine.

"I want to return to Hosu." he said without preamble.

"Yeah, I figured it'd be about that time." Shigaraki responded tiredly, sipping at a cup of coffee, "I went over the specifics of my plan with Sensei and he says it should work well enough. He's willing to provide the manpower we need. It'll take a little over a day for him to get everything situated though, so we'll be going sometime the day after tomorrow."

The timeline didn't bother Stain so much as the idea of what the manpower might entail.

"Surely you don't expect street thugs to be of any real use here?"

"Street thugs?" Shigaraki appeared confused for a moment before the proverbial light bulb turned on, "Oh, you mean like at USJ. No, not quite."

"Not quite?"

"These'll be a bit more…effective."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya Stood across from Endeavor in a massive, arena-like structure with an enclosure that must have been at least three stories tall.

"This is the Endeavor Hero Agency's testing grounds. It is the only area more strongly fortified than my private training room. In addition, it is recorded from multiple angles to a closed-circuit network that is only accessible to select members of the agency. After we are finished, I will have you review your footage while I work with Shoto."

"And, um, what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Fight me. Use your new technique and come at me with all you have."

Izuku attempted to respond but only succeeded in producing a sort of choking noise.

"The most efficient way to learn what you are capable of from a combat perspective is to fight someone. Preferably someone on your level or stronger than you. I might ordinarily pit you against Shoto, but as we do not know the full extent of your capabilities and time is of the essence, I shall face you myself."

Endeavor began to approach with a steady gait, the impact of his footfalls reminding Izuku that, while this man was certainly no All Might, he was still quite physically imposing.

"I won't wait for you to be ready. If you refuse to come to me, I'll come to you instead. You must be ready to engage at a moment's notice. I even allowed you to see me coming and refuel beforehand. This is practically the best-case scenario for you."

Izuku shook his head and mentally switched to battle mode, berating himself for being so easily offput. He was able to ignite Flame Cowl more efficiently than before, but it still took a hefty twenty-percent smash worth of fuel. He used the cover provided by the explosion to dash towards Endeavor, fist cocked back to deliver a five-percent punch.

 _I have to remember that Endeavor isn't All Might. He doesn't have One For All enhancing his body and Hellflame doesn't increase his strength or anything, so in terms of his physical abilities he should still fall within the realm of an average person. Given that, he'll probably block or dodge this and then aim for a counterattack. I need to watch for that moment!_

The sharp smack of Izuku's fist impacting Endeavor broke through the heated air generated by the pair of flame users, but the result was not what Izuku had expected.

"Why are you surprised?" Endeavor cocked his head as his fingers closed around Izuku's fist, having just stopped it dead in its tracks with his palm, "You told me that your usual enhancement increases your strength by two-point-five, correct? Surely you aren't so arrogant as to think that such a Quirk makes your strength unresistable?"

 ***POW***

Endeavor's retaliatory strike sent Izuku careening through the air and caused him to bounce twice before rolling to a stop.

"Perhaps you thought that since my Quirk doesn't increase my physical abilities that I was at a disadvantage in close-quarters? Naïve."

Izuku coughed and regained his feet, Flame Cowl still burning steadily. Endeavor's blow had winded him, but he had suffered little in the way of actual damage. It was obvious that the Number Two Hero had been holding back. Of course he would be; it wouldn't make sense for him to badly injure his intern.

 _Even while holding back, he's that much stronger than me?_

"Again, why do you look so surprised? All this means is that my strength is more than two-point-five times greater than yours. I've been training for twice as long as you've been alive; I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case."

 _In other words, do what he told me to do: Go at him with everything I have._

Izuku charged again, now resolved to not make the same mistake twice. Just before entering Endeavor's range, he slammed his foot into the ground, causing him to veer to the side as he aimed a sweep at Endeavor's leg. The Hero pivoted to avoid the attack and blasted Izuku with a stream of fire which didn't harm him but still obscured his vision. Knowing what to expect, Izuku leapt away just in time to see a flaming boot pass through where he had just been.

"I see you've got your head in the game now. Better, but still not good enough!"

Izuku responded by spitting a fireball at the Flame Hero, not pausing to wonder if his respirator would allow it.

As it turns out, it did. Apparently, the flow of fire could go both ways.

It didn't stop Endeavor from intercepting the fireball with his hand and crushing it, but it was still good information.

 _You can't do anything against this guy at a distance. He's got you pegged._

 _I can't do anything up close either!_

 _Didn't stop you against All Might, did it? Besides, what're you gonna do, throw in the towel?_

… _Point taken._

Izuku waited. He approached steadily at a slight angle so that Endeavor had to turn to keep an eye on him.

 _He can be patient when he needs to be, but it's not in his nature, especially right now. He'll act first._

Sure enough, when Izuku had gotten close enough, Endeavor unleashed a flamethrower-style torrent of fire. Izuku, having expected something like this, immediately charged forwards, attracting as much of the fire to his hand as he could. He leapt at Endeavor, spinning around as he did so and unleashing the condensed flames at point-blank range.

"Reflect Fire!"

 ***BOOM***

The attack was similar to the one that had ended his fight with Todoroki, but Izuku knew that he couldn't count on that here. He continued his rotation and launched a roundhouse kick at where Endeavor's head should have been, but whiffed, showing that he must have ducked. That was fine too. He kept his momentum up and used gravity to bring a hammer fist down in front of himself. This time he felt the impact, but it was stopped cold by what was shortly revealed to be Endeavor's forearm.

He had dropped into a crouch immediately and performed a high block, anticipating an attack from above. His level of experience was allowing him to read Izuku like a book and his superior abilities were making it a simple matter for him to react appropriately.

Izuku's information processing was interrupted by a large hand closing over his face and hoisting him off of the ground as Endeavor stood.

"Do not stop attacking! Maintain your offensive!" he hurled the intern through the air. To his credit, Izuku was ready for it this time and managed to roll with the impact and regain his feet much more quickly. Good thing he had, as Endeavor had decided to hurl a fireball after him this time. Izuku reacted on instinct and ate it.

 _Wait, I can do that with Flame Cowl active?_

 _Now that you're not all focused on keeping it going._

That…was helpful.

Now that his time limit was of less concern, Izuku had the beginnings of a plan. What Endeavor had said was true: against a superior opponent, the best defense was a good offense. After all, Endeavor's usual strategy for attacking and defending at the same time was "blast it with fire" which didn't work on Izuku thanks to his costume. That meant that their fight really boiled down to hand-to-hand combat with a side of pyrotechnics. If he could drag the fight out and force Endeavor to overuse his Quirk to the point of overheating, then he would be weakened.

Of course, the odds that he would last that long against him in the first place were low, but it was the best plan he had at the moment.

And so it was that Izuku re-entered close range with Endeavor and did his best to stick to the man like glue, doing his best to goad him into using his flames which served the dual purpose of raising his heat and refilling Izuku's reserves.

The match went on in this manner for over five minutes before Endeavor decided that enough was enough and stopped using his flames altogether. Izuku's Flame Cowl burned itself out about a minute later, as he had only been at roughly half a tank when Endeavor had "gotten wise" (Izuku was convinced that he had known what he was up to before then, but had allowed the fight to go on). After that, Endeavor had proceeded to kick Izuku's ass up and down the arena, forcing him to do the best he could without any access to his flames.

As it turned out, this didn't amount to much against a man that was already handing his ass to him while he was still powered-up.

"I think that's enough for now." his host Hero eventually decided. To his credit, Izuku did not fall to the ground panting. He was used to rigorous bouts of training and could realistically have kept going for a little while longer if he'd had to.

That wasn't to say he wasn't tired, but he would get some of his energy back after a short break. Going roughly three consecutive rounds with the Number Two Hero with no break was a tall order.

"Your staying power is impressive. Granted, most fights will not last that long, but occasionally you will find an opponent who is very close to your level or who simply refuses to stay down. More worrying is the overall time limit to your technique. By my estimate, at your current full capacity you can last for about two minutes and twelve seconds. The energy consumed by initiating the technique will lower this limit significantly until you make it more efficient."

Izuku nodded, agreeing with this assessment.

"For now, your main priority will be addressing these two factors. Think about this while you review the footage from your match."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku spent time reviewing his footage and making notes until Todoroki came to get him and informed him that it was time for lunch, which they ate at the on-site food court along with Endeavor. There were more than a few employees on break as well and while two or three took a moment to greet the interns and ask polite questions, Izuku got the sense that most didn't want to disturb Endeavor.

As a part of his notes, Izuku had worked out the rough calculations for how he felt his fuel consumption during Flame Cowl worked. At the moment, it seemed to consume five percent of a tank every six seconds, meaning that a full tank would equate to two minutes. However, as Endeavor had pointed out, he seemed to be able to last for two minutes and twelve seconds, thus implying that his capacity was closer to one-hundred and ten percent.

Izuku had suspected that his reserves were slowly increasing, but having it on paper like this confirmed it. He would need to see if it was possible to encourage faster growth, since the more fuel he could hold, the more effective he would be, even if he could only access up to one-hundred percent at once.

That was, after all, how percentages worked. He couldn't suddenly declare that he was unleashing some arbitrary number like "one-million percent" or something like that and have it be true. That would be silly. This wasn't to say that he couldn't get stronger, of course: Endeavor's level of sheer basic strength was proof that he could increase his base level to a far, far greater extent over time and, given that Torchbearer functioned off of multipliers, his effective physical prowess would increase exponentially.

In other words, don't skip out on basic exercises, which was fine by him. Honestly, they had become such an ingrained habit at this point that he didn't think he could stop if he wanted to.

That left the other problem that Endeavor had given him to solve, which was the amount of fuel that it took to ignite Flame Cowl. Granted, increasing his overall reserves would make it less of an issue, but the level of destruction caused by the initial wave of heat and force placed a heavy restriction on where and when he could safely engage the technique. It was a no-go with any civilians or allies nearby, for example.

For this reason, what was the smallest problem on paper was actually Izuku's biggest concern. The only answer that he could come up with was to simply practice, practice, practice. Once he became more skilled with his Quirk, he would, in theory, be able to call upon his techniques more easily, Flame Cowl included.

When he explained all of this to Endeavor, the Flame Hero could not find any glaring flaws in his reasoning and gave him permission to use whatever methods he deemed appropriate as long as he didn't break anything.

Izuku spent the remainder of the afternoon experimenting with various training methods until he settled on a couple that seemed to work the best and then running them into the ground.

As a side-note, it turned out that repeatedly having to refuel after expending all of his reserves on exploding over and over resulted in chapped lips. Who would have thought? He did manage to cut down on the amount required for ignition by a little, though fifteen percent was still higher than he wanted it to be.

Eventually, it was time to start winding down for the day and it occurred to Izuku that while he had been instructed to pack clothes and other necessities, he had no idea where he would actually be staying. He had been wondering when it would be best to broach this topic when Endeavor beat him to the punch.

"Right, come along boys; I think that's enough for today." he beckoned for the pair to follow him. Izuku did so, thinking he was about to be shown to one of the on-site guest quarters or something, but when Endeavor hit the button to send the elevator to the ground floor, he was immediately confused.

"Um, Endeavor, where am I going to be staying?"

"Hmm? I'd have thought that was obvious. You will be staying at my home for the duration of your internship."

"Oh, I see, that makes se-"

…

"Wait, what?"

* * *

 **Well, for those of you who were unsure if Hosu is still going to be a thing...this chapter pretty much confirms that. It will, as with most of the big events thus far, go a bit differently than in canon though.**

 **The scene with Stain wasn't actually planned, but as with most of the scenes that spontaneously find their way into the story, I like how it turned out.**

 **If you like what I do here and would like to see more of my work or get cool bonus content for Torchbearer, check out my Pat_reon! You can find it by Googling "pat_reon fires of creation" without the underscore!**

 **Next time, Izuku has a sleepover at the Todoroki household and Izuku has a late-night chat with Enji before shit hits the fan.**

 **Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and all of my other patrons over at Fires of Creation.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	56. Chapter 54: Regrets

**For our latest milestone, we've gone and passed 1,500 reviews! That's quite something and means that as of right now Torchbearer is the 8th-ranked Torchbearer fic in terms of reviews on all of ffnet!**

 **Review time:**

 **Corruption of Saints, ProjectIceman, Batmarcus, Constipated Genius, Sentinel07, Guest, The 0bservanc3 : People are looking forward to seeing how things play out for Izuku at the Todoroki household. Here's hoping that you like what I've got in store!**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r, Corruption of Saints, ProjectIceman, OmniAxilla, Batmarcus, Constipated Genius, The Incredible Muffin, The 0bservanc3 : Giving one of the most popular Villains from canon more than a couple chapters of screentime is something that people are enjoying! Who'd have thought?! XD More than one of you is rightly concerned with how Stain's improved relationship with the League of Villains as well as his improved physical condition as compared to canon will factor into things and all I can really say is that they definitely will!  
**

 **ProjectIceman, OmniAxilla, Constipated Genius, The 0bservanc3 : A few of you enjoyed my dig at the whole "one-million percent" deal from canon. I understand what they were going for and the scene was definitely hype, but it always came off as more than a little silly to me. Glad to know I'm not the only one!  
**

 **Corruption of Saints : Ah, thank you for clarifying! It was throwing me off since Endeavor's first name is "Enji" and Kirishima's is "Eijiro."**

 **Slayer76 : Izuku would not be able to absorb the fire that explodes out of him when he activates Flame Cowl, since he can't eat his own fire. He might potentially be able to use it for something else though.**

 **Superf7n Guy : You are absolutely correct about 5% being a 2.5x boost. That was a typo on my part and I have since gone back and edited that. Thank you!**

 **In order for Izuku to throw a fireball made from Reflect Fire, he would need a way to keep it condensed after he let it go, which he can't do. He might be able to Rasengan someone with it if he wanted to, though it would still blow up on impact. Having other means of carrying fuel around with him is definitely something that will be addressed in the future, though the main reason he doesn't do it at the moment is he doesn't want to come off as a firebug. As far as the definition of a cowl goes, the actual definition is "a large loose hood, especially one forming part of a monk's habit. - A monk's hooded, sleeveless habit. - A cloak with wide sleeves worn by members of Benedictine orders." I mainly just use it because canon uses it, but upon doing more research into it, it's not as incorrect as one might think.**

 **Batmarcus : A 360-degree explosion being used as an attack? Preposterous! XD**

 **tacktician : I have plans for the training camp, but saying anything about them would probably produce spoilers. It will be different than canon though. Very different.**

 **Mumblesnake : I think you're thinking of Viridescent where Izuku yanks Shoto's flames out of him. Torchbearer! Izuku can't do that. Good thinking though!**

 **Royal-Canadian_Flame : Definitely true that if Izuku cranked up the power of his attacks, he could probably overwhelm Endeavor, albeit temporarily. I will not be including the "things" as you say. I don't really like what canon is doing with One For All and intend to handle my version differently.**

 **avidreaded : If Izuku had eaten a lot of fire as a kid, you would be correct, but he only gained that ability after obtaining One For All, so it wasn't possible. Definitely a fun idea for the cultural festival!**

 **The Keeper of Worlds : Izuku consuming more and more flames more consistently will definitely make him more effective. As far as triggering an evolution in his Quirk goes, I'm not sure about that, but we'll see.**

 **Reverseflash : I look forward to seeing you at Fires of Creation! I'm always glad to know that people like how I portray Endeavor. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter too!**

 **Guest : This is a very interesting idea for an alternative use of Izuku's Quirk, but I had decided from the get-go that I wanted to limit it as much as possible, so it only works with actual fire. This particular ability sounds very overpowered and just doesn't fit my story. Again, very interesting though!**

 **kakashidex : I'm glad you're enjoying things so far and it's always flattering to be favorably compared to the current number one MHA fic. I look forward to seeing you become one of my regulars!**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Even in canon, Izuku has shown a penchant for being kinda dumb/dense for smart guy on occasion (I can use my LEGS, anyone?). Yeah, I would be remiss if I didn't include Hosu. It's like the chunin exams while the Sports Festival is the wave arc; you can't _not_ have them. The purpose of Endeavor no-selling Izuku's punch like that was indeed to show that, powerful as he may be, he's nowhere near the level of a top-tier Pro. This was something I feel like everyone already knew, courtesy of All Might, but it was worth showing against someone _other_ than the strongest Hero who has ever lived.  
**

 **While Flame Cowl is active, the rate of fuel consumption is constant and determined by Izuku's power output, with any special attacks that he performs still consuming fuel as normal. Eating flames still gives him as much fuel as it otherwise would, with the obvious caveat that he can't go above full capacity (at least not by any meaningful amount without some grinding). Having a ready source of flames available would certainly give him ample opportunity to refuel, but he would still need an opportunity to do so. Best-case scenario for Izuku is still being somewhere that's already on fire or fighting a fire-based opponent. Fuel capacity and minimizing his initial explosion (which wastes energy) are definitely things for him to focus on during the training camp.**

 **PokeKing Charizard, Scarease, ILiekFishes, Chocoboblitz, DragonBall Shin, Karystma, Ooobserver and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Let's jump right on in to Izuku's first night at the Todoroki household, shall we?**

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Four: Regrets

Izuku Midoriya was nervous. Strike that, he was _extremely_ nervous. To anyone who knew him, this was not at all unusual; he was prone to worrying and overthinking and this was rarely the sort of thing that served to calm someone down. To his credit, Izuku had actually been getting better about this lately, albeit one small step at a time.

But, in a situation where he had just discovered that he would be sleeping over at the Todoroki household and this would be happening more or less immediately, combined with the fact that said revelation had caught him completely off-guard…

…well, suffice it to say that his tendency to worry and overthink things came roaring to the forefront.

On an intellectual level, Izuku knew that he was overreacting, that there was a perfectly logical reason for why Endeavor had decided to host him at his home as well as his agency and that, if anything, this should be seen as a great opportunity to learn more about the Number Two Hero as well as get to know one of his classmates better.

Unfortunately, though he was certainly an intellectual, he was also an emotional teenager. Therefore, while he would fully realize the opportunity before him later on, his normally-detailed internal dialogue was currently restricted to repeating various forms of "oh god, oh god, oh god."

"I have informed my daughter that we will be having company, since she gets home earlier than myself most days." Endeavor stated as they approached the front door of the Todoroki household.

Izuku's initial reaction was surprise before he remembered that Todoroki had mentioned being the "youngest" child when he had told his story to his classmate. It was natural that he had at least one sibling in that case. Indeed, shortly after Endeavor had let them in, they were greeted by a young woman whose shoulder-length white hair interspersed with flecks of crimson very easily pinned her as Todoroki's sibling.

 _Wait…I'm surrounded by Todorokis at this point. I should probably think of him as "Shoto" while I'm here._

"Welcome home, Shoto, Father." she greeted her family members first before turning her attention to the boy behind them, "And I recognize _you_ from the Sports Festival and the stories that Shoto's told me; it's nice to meet you in person, Midoriya-san. I'm Fuyumi Todoroki, but feel free to use my first name in order to make things easier." she gave Izuku a warm smile. Her demeanor was so unlike that of her father and brother that it was a moment before he was able to respond appropriately.

"Ah, y-yes! I will take y-you up on that! A p-pleasure to m-meet you, Fuyumi-san! Please forgive my intrusion!"

"It's no trouble at all." she waved him off without a second thought before turning around and heading towards where Izuku remembered the kitchen to be, "I'm by no means an expert, but when I heard we were having a guest I figured I'd take the time to prepare something simple. It should be ready in about fifteen minutes. Ten if you boys feel up to helping set the table."

"Go on." Endeavor motioned with his chin towards Fuyumi's retreating back as he took the steel briefcases that contained Izuku and Shoto's costumes, "I'll put these in your room, Shoto."

Shoto did not deign to acknowledge his father's words, save for following his sister and motioning for Izuku to join him. Izuku had wondered at the level of cooperation and civility he had shown to Endeavor throughout the day after having professed to hating the man so much, but it was clear to him now that it had been a matter of professionalism as an intern under a Pro Hero. He would give his father the minimum that was required, but no more.

As they entered the kitchen, Izuku caught the aroma of a few common staples of Japanese-style cooking. Miso soup, rice, fish and vegetables were all identifiable as well as an aromatic tea that Izuku couldn't quite place. Shoto was his usual stoic self, efficiently indicating to Izuku where various dishes were kept as he divided half of the load to each of them. It was as they were setting the table that Izuku broke the silence.

"Todoroki-san, if you don't mind my asking, what sort of tea is that? I can't quite place it by the smell." Shoto took a sniff before raising an eyebrow and glancing back at the kitchen.

"Gyokuro. She's really going all-out."

"Gyo-" Izuku's eyes widened. Gyokuro was widely regarded as the highest grade of tea that Japan regularly produced. He supposed that it wasn't a stretch that a reasonably well-off family like the Todorokis might have some of it on-hand, but even so, they were under no obligation to serve him something like that.

"No need to be so nervous; it's been a while since Fu's cooking's killed anyone."

"I heard that! It'd serve you right if I burned your fish!"

"Burn my rice, more like."

"…Out of respect for our guest, I'll let that slide, but once your internships are over…" Fuyumi's voice trailed off into half-hearted grumbling and Shoto didn't bat an eye. Did that mean this was normal? Neither Izuku nor Kacchan had any siblings, so he didn't really have a frame of reference for how those sorts of relationships usually went.

The few remaining minutes until the meal was ready passed quickly as Izuku considered the topic of family dynamics and soon the three Todorokis and their guest were seated and eating dinner. The tea, as Izuku had expected upon learning what it was, was excellent and seemed to elevate the flavor of all the dishes by a step or two. He recalled hearing that one's choice of drink could greatly impact the quality of a meal but it was only as he was having the type of meal that any Japanese person might that he fully understood what that meant.

Sure, it didn't beat his mother's cooking in his eyes, but he still thought Fuyumi had sold herself short and that Shoto was giving her too hard of a time. She was easily the most social person at the table, making small-talk with everyone present in-turn.

"Todoroki-san mentioned being the youngest child, but I'm curious as to whether there are any other siblings besides you, Fuyumi-san." Izuku asked about halfway through the meal.

"Oh, yes." she nodded, "There are two more brothers: one older than me and one between me and Shoto. That one's Natsuo. He's nineteen and off attending college at the moment."

"And the eldest brother?" Izuku prompted before realizing that he had made some form of mistake as Fuyumi's face fell slightly.

"That's Toya. He's…estranged…from the rest of the family. We haven't heard from him at all over the last couple of years."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Now, why don't you tell me how the internship's going so far? Lord knows getting anything out of Shoto will be like pulling teeth!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

The rest of dinner and the cleanup afterwards passed quickly as Izuku covered the events of the day without going into too much detail. The boys elected to turn in not long after since, according to both Shoto and Endeavor, the Pro liked to start early.

Still, in spite of the eventfulness of the day, Izuku wasn't tired enough to just doze off, so he elected to try and get Shoto's opinion on the internship thus far. Hopefully he would get more than a few words this time.

"You know, Todoroki-san, I have to admit that things at the agency are going a lot more smoothly than I thought they would. I always imagined Endeavor being, well, a lot scarier. That's not to say he isn't, but he seems easy enough to get along with."

"As long as you're the sort to submit entirely to his control, sure." Shoto scoffed, "Just do what he says, when he says and how he says like a good little tool and everything's great."

"I…guess?" a puzzled Izuku responded, "I mean, it's not like I've disagreed with anything he's asked me to do so far. If anything, the amount of progress I've made already only makes me trust him more. He obviously knows what he's doing, right?"

"You sound like a little kid talking about his dad." there was more than a hint of a sneer in Shoto's tone, "You can have him if you want; I'd make that trade any day."

"I haven't seen my father since I was _three_ , Todoroki-san." Izuku responded icily.

"Fitting. I haven't seen him _as_ my father since I was five." Izuku stood up.

"It's still better to have him around. At least that way you'll have the chance to know him." Shoto mirrored his movements, eyes narrowed.

"There's nothing more about him that I _care_ to know. You know the basic details of what he did; how can you _defend_ him?"

"I'm not defending anything! I'm just beginning to wonder if you've ever made an effort to actually _talk_ with him about it after seeing how you are in-person with him!"

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?!" Shoto snapped, "Are you trying to tell me that _I'm_ the one to blame for how things have been?!"

"I'm saying that it's been ten years since the things you told me about and people have been known to _change_ over the course of a freaking _decade_! You wouldn't really have any way of knowing that though, since you're determined to have as little to do with him as possible! At least my lack of relationship with _my_ father isn't by _choice_!"

"You think I _chose_ this?!" Shoto was as close to shouting as Izuku had ever seen him, "You think if I had _any_ choice in the matter that things would _be_ like this?! What could I have done, Midoriya? I was _five_!"

"You aren't five anymore." Izuku felt his face grow stony, his voice sharp and even, "Maybe you didn't have any control over what happened back then, but it's been _your_ decision not to make any effort to move past it. You hate your life so much? You wish so badly that it could be different? Then maybe you should consider making an effort to _change_ it instead of wallowing in anger and self-pity."

"…Get out."

"What?"

"I need you to get out of my room or I think I'm going to punch you. At least for half an hour."

Izuku turned around and exited through the sliding door, intending to close it normally but accidentally slamming it. He stalked off down the hallway, feeling his body thrumming with unused adrenaline and revealing just how much his argument with Shoto had touched a nerve.

Not having any particular destination in mind (he wasn't even entirely sure in which direction he had started walking) Izuku was rather surprised when he came to and found himself yet again in the living room adjacent to the kitchen. More surprising was who he found there: Endeavor, sitting in his chair and sipping on a glass of amber liquid that Izuku assumed was some form of whiskey.

Seeing the man now, Izuku thought he looked tired. Not fatigued, just…tired. He still wasn't entirely used to seeing him out of his costume and with his flames pared down only to his facial hair. It was a testament to his status, Izuku supposed, that he exuded much the same sort of aura out of his costume as he did in it, if not a touch more approachable.

"Midoriya." the man acknowledged his presence with a word but gave no other indication that he had noticed him. For the next two, maybe three minutes, there was silence. Izuku was internally warring with himself and Endeavor didn't seem inclined to stop him.

Eventually, Izuku sat down on the couch opposite the Number Two Hero and looked him in the eyes, committed to talking but still unsure exactly how to word his query.

"In my experience," the older man began, "it is usually better to say what is on your mind straight out and worry about how people feel about it later. Ask forgiveness rather than permission."

"I had an argument with Todoroki-san just now. It got bad enough that I had to leave his room while we both cool off."

"About?"

"You."

"I see."

"…Why?" that single word was all Izuku could come up with. He had tried to think of ways to express what he wanted to know, his desire to understand, but it really all boiled down to that one simple word.

It was then that Izuku felt that he truly saw the man behind the mask for the first time. As Endeavor closed his eyes for a moment and tossed back the remainder of his drink, Izuku found himself thinking that the man who looked back at him was Enji Todoroki.

 _I'm going to do it. I'm going to ask the question that your son never would. If anyone's ever going to be able to help him move past this, then they at least need to understand that much._

 _Why are you doing this? Do you feel some sort of connection with him because of your own daddy issues?_

 _That's probably part of it, but in the end, it's because I want to be a Hero. Meddling without anyone asking you to…that's what being a Hero is all about isn't it?_

 _Have you considered that Shoto doesn't want you to interfere? That he just genuinely doesn't care?_

 _I can't bring myself to accept that. If he didn't care, then he wouldn't be so angry. It wouldn't hurt him so much._

Enji stood and made his way to the kitchen where he retrieved a bottle from a cupboard and poured himself another finger of whiskey.

"Do you want anything?" he glanced back towards Izuku.

Izuku had a brief urge to point to give some sort of cheeky response such as pointing to the bottle and saying "that," but he refrained and shook his head. He didn't think he could stomach even a sip of water just then anyway. In spite of his convictions, he was still effectively attempting to interrogate the Number Two Pro Hero.

Hell, the fact that he actually seemed to be gearing up to give Izuku an _answer_ almost made him _more_ concerned than if he had simply waved the boy off, citing that it was none of his business.

"I will be turning forty-six in a few months. Did you know that?" Enji asked as he returned to his chair. Izuku, having done a bit of extra research into his host Hero before beginning he internship, had indeed known that and nodded in response, "Do you know how old All Might is going to be?"

"Fifty next month." Izuku remembered his teacher telling him as much.

"Indeed. We are hardly what you could consider young men anymore. I'm sure we'd both like to say that we aren't past our prime just yet, but even the top Heroes aren't immune to the passage of time. Sooner or later, we won't be able to do it anymore and we'll have two choices: retire or get killed in the field. Of course, that's assuming the second choice doesn't get made _for_ us before then."

He took a sip of his drink before continuing.

"Having the two most powerful Heroes be so close in age…it's clear that there would be a power vacuum if we were to die or retire close together. There's always a spike in Villain activity when a well-known Hero leaves the field and the Villains themselves are hardly getting any weaker on average. There are, of course, the other top Heroes to take into consideration. Most of them are younger than All Might and myself, but precious few of them come anywhere near approaching my level of power, let alone his."

This was true, Izuku mused. The other Heroes in the top five, Hawks, Best Jeanist and Edgeshot, were all at least a decade younger than Endeavor, with Hawks only being twenty-one or something. Undeniably powerful as they all were, none of them commanded the sheer intensity that the top two did.

"In order to reduce the impact of this situation as much as possible and to ensure that the future of Pro Heroes is as bright as possible, it is obvious that worthy replacements must be found and groomed before we take our leave. In my eyes, the best way to do that in an age of increasingly powerful Quirks was to start from the base and raise a child with the most powerful Quirk possible. Hence, as Shoto told you, I chose Rei as my wife and got to work."

"Toya, my firstborn, showed promise initially. In spite of the fact that he seemed to exhibit none of his mother's Quirk, he had taken mine and evolved it beyond even my own limits. However, it soon became apparent that his body was too weak to bear such a Quirk and he was deemed a failure. Fuyumi had the opposite problem: she took too heavily after my wife and lacked the disposition to become a fighter. Natsuo had a similar issue as his sister. Finally, after around ten years of trying, I produced Shoto."

"It became immediately apparent that he was as close to perfect as I was likely to get. He possessed all of the power of both Rei and myself with almost none of our limitations. There was, and still is, absolutely no reason why he should not be capable of becoming one of the most powerful Heroes that has ever lived, surpassing even All Might in due time. Even then, I was aware of the passage of time. How could I not be? It had taken ten years longer than I had anticipated to produce a suitable heir. As such, I began his training in earnest at the earliest opportunity."

"You didn't think it might be a bit much for a five-year-old?" Izuku spoke during his next pause.

"Children are more resilient than most give them credit for. I was careful never to take him beyond what I knew he could handle. In the end, it was Rei not him, who broke."

"And it broke him in turn."

"Does he seem broken to you? His progress was delayed by his mother's breakdown, but he is still well on his way to realizing his potential."

"At what cost, though? He wants nothing to do with you. Your own son. You can't be telling me that you're okay with that?"

"His feelings are irrelevant…as are mine." his turquoise eyes bored into Izuku, unwavering and unblinking, "For the sake of fulfilling one's duty as a Hero and maintaining the status quo that we have worked so hard for, the ends must justify the means. Results are all that matter when lives are on the line. What difference does it make to a civilian whether or not the one who saved them was happy, as long as they were saved in the end? Either the Hero succeeds…or they do not. There is no room for anything else."

"You don't regret anything?"

"Any regrets I may have and any feelings I have to work through are secondary to the goal that I _must_ achieve. I cannot rely on chance to produce a worthy successor. I cannot afford to be that naïve." he sagged into his chair and kneaded the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

"If it had happened sooner…if it had been one of the older children…if I had had more time…but as I said, that is all irrelevant now. I'll have time enough for regrets when I've done all I need to do."

"What if it's like you said? What if you _don't_ have time?"

"Then I'll take my regrets with me."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Elsewhere, another man opened his turquoise eyes, feeling the pain slowly recede from his body as it always did eventually, unless he _really_ overdid it. He scratched his head, wrinkling his nose at the stench of ammonia that still clung to his hair and would likely remain for at least another day or two.

It was supposed to be a simple errand. The same sort of thing he had done many times before. Nobody was supposed to die that night.

But, for whatever reason, the stylist had recognized him.

That was a no-no.

At least the middle-aged woman had been the only one on-site due to the lateness of the hour. He had even managed to avoid doing too much damage to the building itself, only leaving a few scorch marks on the floor surrounding what remained of the body.

He wasn't ready just yet. Not yet.

But soon enough, he would be.

And he would _cremate_ the one responsible for his pain.

* * *

 **Hmm, I wonder who that could have been?**

 **I've had the idea of Enji's reasoning behind what he did for quite a while now and it's nice to finally get it down on paper, so to speak. My hope is that this helps people to understand him even if they don't agree with him (and I know there's more than a few who _really_ don't like Daddy Todoroki). I originally intended for this chapter to be a bit longer, but I've been fighting some sort of coworker-inherited disease for the past couple days and it's really sapped my energy.**

 **For those who don't know, you can find my Pat_reon page by googling "fires of creation pat_reon" without the underscore. Check it out if you want to support me, see more of my work and score some bonus content!  
**

 **Special thanks to The 0bservance, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and all of my other patrons!**

 **Next time, we'll be getting a look at how some other internships are going and Endeavor makes a decision about when to head to Hosu! Will it be in time to get involved in the Villainous attack?**

 **Probably. It'll...it'll probably be in time to get involved, yeah.**

 **And, as always, thank you for reading!**


	57. Chapter 55: What I Should Do

**I knew that last chapter was going to be one of the more divisive ones and I was definitely not disappointed! Even so, we're closing fast on the 2.5K Follows mark, so it doesn't seem to have been a deal-breaker.**

 **Also, not gonna name any names here, but a few of you are getting into manga-spoiler territory with your reviews. I don't stay constantly caught-up with the manga since my preference is to read several chapters at once instead of one-by-one, so please try to keep that in mind.**

 **Review time:**

 **ProjectIceman, OmniAxilla, Flareblitz the God, JAlexGamer, Constipated Genius, Death of Snipers, DblHi5, Scarease, Superf7n Guy, Slayer76, D3lph0xL0v3r, Corruption of Saints, Batmarcus, StandupSitdown, The Incredible Muffin, kakashidex, amawahibiki18, Reverseflash, Ooobserver, The 0bservanc3 : I knew that the biggest talking point for this was going to be the Izuku+Shoto and Izuku+Endeavor conversations. There's a lot to say about these, so I'll put that in the post-chapter author's notes. Check there if you're interested.  
**

 **ProjectIceman, JAlexgamer, Constipated Genius, The Keeper of Worlds, D3lph0xL0v3r, Batmarcus, uchihaNaruto247, amawahibiki18, The 0bservanc3 : I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone that in a fic about a fire-element Izuku a certain blue flame wielder is going to have his part to play. As for my stance on a popular fan-theory regarding Dabi's real name? Yes, I do think he is who you think I think he is and I would be actively disappointed if it turns out not to be the case in canon.  
**

 **ProjectIceman : I understand the situation in canon in terms of power-scaling, but that's only true if I still give said character the same insane power-boost in Torchbearer, which I probably won't do because it kind of felt like an ass-pull to me for the sake of keeping said character on canon Izuku's level.**

 **uchihaNaruto247 : I will confirm that it wasn't Inko that got roasted, because _dear god_. If I wanted to turn this into a Vigilante/Villain! Izuku fic after 50+ chapters, that'd be a hell of a way to do it, huh? Ballsy move if nothing else.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : He's freaking out because he got thrown into an unexpected sleepover at the Todoroki household. Gyokuro is considered to be the highest-quality tea that Japan routinely produces. I am unsure if it is the same tea you are thinking of, though I have no doubts that the Yaoyorozu family has some. I do not believe we have been told what Natsuo's Quirk is, though given his all-white hair I would imagine it's ice-based.  
**

 **Just because they're fighting now doesn't mean they can't be friends. Have hope. Shoto meant that he needs to be alone for half an hour to cool off or he's afraid he might get into a fistfight with Izuku. All Might's actual age hasn't been posted as far as I know. I went with fifty since by the time Enji had made his way into the field, he was already one of the top Heroes, implying that he's at least a bit older than Enji. I picked fifty more or less on a whim after that.**

 **Dragonball Shin, tacktician, Ech0s, Guest, Shiranai Atsune, geoslim21, TorrentAB, EmrysGreystone, Guest, KingAllen and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!**

 **Now, I promised you guys more internships, so let's get right into it!**

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Five: What I Should Do

Ochako Uraraka turned on the spot in front of the locker room mirror, making sure her Hero Costume was properly in place. Granted, there wasn't much that could be out-of-place on a costume that clung to her so tightly that it was almost a second skin, but if the agency was going to provide a mirror, she'd feel bad not using it.

After all, the Gunhead Hero Agency didn't seem to have many women on-site, so she had the locker room to herself, making her more self-conscious tendencies a non- issue. Plus, it had occurred to her as she was changing that she hadn't really had the opportunity to see how she looked in her costume apart from video recordings. There was something different about seeing herself in the flesh, as it were.

As she observed herself from various angles, Ochako had the idea to put on her helmet. The difference was immediate. She went from looking like herself awkwardly preening in a skintight outfit to a sleek, eye-catching Heroine. The helmet obscured her face enough that she couldn't easily perceive the expression on her face. Because of this, as she struck a pose and put a fist on her hip, all she could see was a masked enforcer of justice, daring anyone to do evil where she could see them.

… _She looks cool._

 _Wait, that's me. Geez, Ochako, get it together!_

Yet, in spite of knowing that the one in the mirror was her, Ochako couldn't help but think of that person as someone else. Cool, powerful, attractive, she couldn't consider herself to be any of those things. It was one of the reasons why the time since she had passed the U.A. entrance exam had felt so surreal; she couldn't understand what it was that everyone saw in her.

But she wasn't going to look that particular gift horse in the mouth. All she could do was to be thankful, embrace every opportunity she was given and hope that she could live up to everyone's expectations.

 ***Vmm vmm***

She was jolted out of her reverie by her phone, which was signaling that she had received a text message.

"Oh, it's Deku-kun!" Ochako had actually texted her boyfriend the night before, asking him how the first day of his internship was going and telling him about hers, but he hadn't responded. She wasn't overly surprised by this, figuring that he was busy, tired or, more likely than not, some combination of both and she didn't want to bother him.

Even so, she was still happy that he had taken the time to respond so early in the morning.

"Huh, that's odd. He's usually pretty wordy, but all he sent me was an image. Let's have a look…"

There is an old saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words." Indeed, it has been used so often as to have become a cliché of sorts. However, as Ochako Uraraka gazed at the picture that Izuku had sent her as his only response to her rather lengthy message, it was the first thing that came to mind.

He had taken a picture of his reflection in a mirror not unlike the one she was currently in front of. It was immediately apparent that he had gotten a new costume, but that wasn't what stood out the most to her.

It was the look on his face. His respirator was around his neck, allowing Ochako to see his expression clearly.

He was smiling, but there was something more to it than what she had seen before. It was his eyes. They screamed determination and a level of confidence that she had never seen from him before. For lack of a better word…he looked excited.

 _No, "excited" isn't the right word… "eager" maybe?_

Yes, that felt closer to the mark: he was eager, raring to go. His fire had been lit and his passion for Heroism was pushing him forward like never before.

"I can do this." On anyone else's face, that's what that look would have meant.

But something in the back of Ochako's mind told her what he really meant.

" _We_ can do this."

Ochako felt her heart strain for a moment as it swelled with a sudden wave of happiness and affection. Even without knowing, Izuku had given her exactly the boost she needed.

… _I guess at the end of the day, that's a big part of why I can't help but-_

 ***Knock knock***

"Hello~, In-fi-ni-ty-chan. Everything alright in there? We're about to start our morning exercises and being late to those is a no-no!"

"Ah! Sorry, Gunhead!" Ochako apologized as she hastily tossed her clothes into her locker and stowed her phone, "I got distracted by the response to a message I sent yesterday!" she exited the locker room to see her host Hero waiting for her with his hands on his hips, striking a pose that suggested that he'd be pouting at her if she could see his face behind his mask.

When she had first met the Battle Hero, Ochako had taken most of the day to get used to the severe juxtaposition between his appearance and his mannerisms. On the outside, he was a six-foot-three mass of muscle with a mask, combat vest, combat boots and a pair of large bracers each shaped like the barrel of a revolver. On the inside, however, he was extremely friendly and even had several cute tendencies, like his manner of speaking and his playful demeanor.

At least until it was time to get serious, at which point he was every inch the Battle Hero.

All in all, Ochako liked him.

"Oh? A surprise message?" he leaned in and put a hand over his mouth in a conspiratorial gesture, "Was it…your boyfriend?"

It was worth noting that Ochako had given no indication that she had a boyfriend, at least she hadn't thought so, meaning this was entirely Gunhead's intuition.

"Well…yes. He's at his own internship right now and wasn't able to respond until this morning."

Gunhead gasped before making a delighted little squeal.

"Oh my goodness, that's so adorable!" he straightened up quickly, "Now isn't the time for that though; let's get to the dojo!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Hey! You two! What are you dragging your feet for?! You think you can call yourselves Heroes like this?! You don't even qualify as assistants!"

"Yes, Fourth Kind!"

"Seriously, what do they even teach you kids these days?! You can't even make a halfway-decent cup of tea! How do you expect to offer proper hospitality to your clients like this?! You think that Hero work is all about running around and swinging your fists?! _Huh_?!"

"No, Fourth Kind!"

"That's right!"

Eijiro Kirishima knew what was coming next and reflexively activated Hardening.

 ***KRONG***

"Good reaction time! You two might be dense, but at least those hard heads are satisfying to hit!"

"Thank you, Fourth Kind!"

"Alright then. Now I'm going to be right back, so don't go anywhere!" the four-armed man in a black suit turned his back and left the office through a side door.

"Sheesh, I'm glad it didn't take me long to anticipate those punches of his. If it was anyone but us, they'd probably hurt!" Eijiro griped, shooting a sideways smirk at his fellow intern.

"I hear you, man. Still, I can't exactly disagree with the stuff he's saying, you know?" Tetsutetsu replied in kind.

Eijiro had already been looking forward to his time with the Chivalrous Hero, but when he discovered that he had been paired up with his counterpart from Class 1-B, his enthusiasm had shot through the roof. The two boys got along like a house on fire and there was no shortage of respect between them either, courtesy of what was most likely the manliest fight Eijiro had participated in up to that point.

If anything, Eijiro had come to see the man of steel as a friendly rival, given how close their match had been. Eijiro had won, but it had been a close thing and he still wasn't entirely sure how he had done it. He felt that fighting with Tetsutetsu more would only serve to raise both of them even higher.

Actually…why not? That gave him an idea.

"Hey, Tetsutetsu," he said in a low voice, leaning in conspiratorially, "I've got something I think you might be interested in."

"Oh yeah?" the other boy had clearly picked up on his attempt to be subtle and lowered his voice as well, "It's not drugs, is it? 'Cause those're bad."

"What? No! It's a F-…an _after-school club_ that I may or may not be a part of and, hypothetically, would be right up your alley."

Tetsutetsu's eyes widened slightly as he observed the smile on Eijiro's face and processed what he had said.

"So, this hypothetical _club_ of yours." he said carefully, "Would this be the sort of _club_ that you aren't supposed to talk about as a _rule_?"

"Yes."

"And, if you _were_ a member of this _club_ , you might be inviting me into it?"

"I might be."

"If, hypothetically, I wanted nothing more than to be a part of this _club_ , what would I do?"

"Give me your contact info later and wait for further instructions." Eijiro extended a fist, which Tetsutetsu wasted no time in bumping, now looking even more pumped. They were unable to continue their conversation, as the door to the office opened once more.

"Alright, before we get into our public service for today, let's see if what I told you two lunkheads yesterday managed to penetrate those thick skulls! Explain to me how Pro Heroes get paid!" Fourth Kind demanded as he reappeared.

"Well, you get paid by the state, since you're a government employee," Tetsutetsu began, "but it's different than then average government worker, since you work mostly on commission."

"Yeah, you can find work by going on patrol or just waiting for the police to give you a call when something goes down in your area." Eijiro continued, "Individual districts send their requests out in batches and when you get involved in one, you have to write up a report describing what you did. Bad guys you stopped, people you saved, stuff like that. You have to do these reports even if you get involved in something on the spur-of-the-moment, or else you can't get paid."

"It's not as simple as just sending it in, though." Tetsutetsu picked it up when Eijiro faltered, having trouble remembering the next part, "There's an organization that specializes in auditing reports like these, so they can be sure that Heroes aren't just talking themselves up to make extra money. Once they verify that you did what you say you did, you get paid via a direct deposit into your designated bank account."

"Right, which could be your personal account or an account set aside for your agency, if you're a bigger Hero." Eijiro finished, nodding in satisfaction.

"Although, now that I think about it, I think I remember Monoma bringing up another way of making some cash," Tetsutetsu scratched his chin which, unlike Eijiro's, was not covered by his metallic face guard, "something about side work or something?"

"Well, looks like you've got more than just a goldfish's memory after all." Fourth Kind crossed one pair of arms and rested the other pair on his hips, "You remember how I explained that Pro Heroes have a minimum required number of public service hours that they need to put in each month, right? Well, you can actually use a certain portion of those to perform various side jobs, such as advertising, public speaking, helping out the local police force, or even something like being a private tutor. This can be a good way for Heroes to make some extra money if they need it, though of course higher-profile Heroes are more in-demand for this kind of thing."

Oh, so _that_ was why there were a lot of Hero-based ads and endorsements for various things. Eijiro had always thought that it was just because they were popular and various companies were looking to get in on sponsorship deals, but it actually gave them something to help meet their quota when they weren't busy fighting crime. Sure, he wasn't a fan of the idea of having homework even as a Pro, but it didn't really seem all that complicated once he took the time to understand it.

The fact that both he and Tetsutetsu hung out with some of the smart kids in their respective classes didn't hurt either. Eijiro remembered his first time meeting Monoma and, while he still didn't like the other boy, Tetsutetsu assured him that he wasn't that bad all the time and was actually highly willing to share his knowledge and ideas if you could put up with his personality.

" _Kendo's doing her best to straighten him out, but until she starts making progress, at least I've got thick skin!"_ he had said before activating his quirk and knocking on his head with a sharp-toothed grin, producing a metallic ring.

"Even so," Fourth Kind raised a finger, "unless you run into a lot of Villain activity, an explosion of petty crime, or some kind of natural disaster, you'll more likely than not end up still having to do some regular public service, which is why we're going to be picking up trash today!" he tossed each of them an orange vest, a bag and a trash picker, "Of course, we'll also be keeping an eye out for criminal activity, kittens stuck in trees and old ladies who need help crossing the street! Let's get to it!"

"Yes, Fourth Kind!" Eijiro and Tetsutetsu responded in unison as they donned their vests and followed him out the door.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Better." Endeavor nodded approvingly as Izuku and Shoto demonstrated their respective techniques, with Izuku showing his improvement regarding Flame Cowl's activation and Shoto displaying various levels of output for his flames on-command, "Far from perfect, of course, but I suppose it could be considered serviceable for the time being."

"Oh, come on, Boss, don't you think you're being a little hard on 'em?" Saotome grinned from where she was leaning against the wall by the elevator, dressed more casually than she had been yesterday due to her patrolling the building as a sort of plain-clothes security guard that day. She had decided to drop in and see what her boss and the boys were up to before she made her next round, "I think they'd be more than a match for your average criminal or Villain."

Instead of responding to her, Endeavor turned to the boys and crossed his arms.

"What do you think of that? Are the two of you satisfied with your current level of performance?"

"Of course not! I can still do better!"

"What kind of stupid question is that?"

"There you have it." Endeavor looked to Saotome, who was beaming at this point.

"That's what I like to hear! Get a few more years on you and you two might end up being my type!" she laughed and summoned the elevator before pausing partway through the doors, "So, Boss, about that thing we were talking about, when should I have that ready?"

Endeavor swept his gaze over Izuku and his son, looking as though he were sizing them up.

"Four hours."

"Yes, sir!" and with that, Saotome was gone, though Izuku noticed that the elevator was heading up instead of down.

"Um, Endeavor? If you don't mind my asking, what was she talking about?"

"You two will spend the next three hours refining your techniques as much as possible. After that you will clean yourselves up, your costumes will be quick-washed and we will leave for Hosu after lunch."

Izuku swallowed and nodded, clenching his fists at his sides.

 _This is it. We're going after the Hero Killer._

 _Don't get too stressed; we might not even find him and if we do, we'll have Endeavor there._

 _I don't know why, but some part of me feels like it's not going to be that simple._

 _You think too much._

Izuku hoped that was all it was. To distract himself, he decided to ask Endeavor what Saotome was supposed to be preparing for them.

"Hmm? The helicopter. There's a helipad on the roof."

"Heli-"

Well, now he had something else to be nervous about.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Tenya Iida, known (or soon-to-be known, he supposed) in his current form as Callidum, was walking dutifully behind his host Hero as they went on their morning patrol. He understood that they wouldn't usually spend so much time patrolling, but given the recent events, local Heroes were putting more emphasis on showing face.

After all, Hosu was where the Hero Killer was most recently known to be.

"I apologize that there hasn't really been more to do besides patrolling." Manual said, glancing right while Tenya glanced left and alternating regularly, "I know it's your first time in the field, so a part of me was hoping I'd get to show you something a bit more exciting."

The so-called Normal Hero wore a fairly ordinary costume as far as Heroes were concerned, with a skintight blue and white shirt, dark pants, orange gloves, white boots and a helmet that was easily the most striking portion of his outfit, with a fish-like fin and adjustable blue visor, which was currently in the up position.

"I'm afraid I'd feel guilty agreeing with you, Manual-san." Tenya replied.

"Ha ha, yeah, I suppose so."

Manual was well-liked as it turned out and they stopped occasionally when a civilian or police officer came up to say hello and one family had even asked for a picture, which he gladly obliged. Tenya had volunteered to take the photo, but the small boy had shyly asked if he would put him on his shoulders for the shot and how could he say no to that?

"He's a big fan of Ingenium." the boy's father had explained, "Forgive my asking, but, as your costume resembles his so much, are you also from Team Idaten?"

"I hope to be, but at the moment I am a student interning with Manual-san. I do know Ingenium however."

"Is he doing okay?" the boy asked, looking up at him hopefully.

"He's going to be just fine. I'll tell him that you wish him well, shall I?" Tenya patted his head, earning a smile and a nod.

"You handled that extremely well, Callidum." Manual patted him on the shoulder as the family went on their way, the boy chattering excitedly, "Public interactions are an important part of a Hero's persona, as I'm sure you know."

"Of course. Honestly, I'm taking my cues from my brother and yourself. You are both well-loved by the public and seen as very approachable, whereas someone like All Might…"

"He's well-loved, but many people see him as out of their reach." Manual offered.

"Exactly." Tenya nodded, grateful for the phrasing, "I'm not saying I won't aim to be a Hero of his caliber, but I want to have a different relationship with the public than he does. I want people to feel that they can come to me when they need something, whatever it might be, not just when it's a real emergency."

"I knew I had you pegged from the moment I met you." Manual smiled as they continued their patrol, "I just felt a sort of kinship with you, you know? Like you were the type who wouldn't put himself above anything just because of your Quirk or your status."

"Your words humble me."

"However…" Manual fell into step beside Tenya and gave him a serious look, "given that I've been right about everything else so far, I feel that I have to ask this: Are you after the Hero Killer, Callidum?"

Tenya was taken aback by the sudden question, giving Manual an opening to continue.

"It just seems like the most obvious reason for why you'd choose an agency like mine, given that I'm not exactly a high-profile Hero. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that you chose me, but if you did so with the intent of acting on a personal grudge, I feel obligated to remind you that Heroes don't have the authority to make arrests or dole out punishment. Vigilantism is a major crime and we need to make sure that when we take down a Villain, we do it by the book."

His expression softened slightly.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the Hero Killer deserves to get off scot-free for what he's done, but I don't want you to get yourself in trouble over something like this, especially when you have such a bright future ahead of you."

"I understand why you would think something like that." Tenya responded after taking a moment to compose his thoughts as they walked, "I admit that a part of me, a big part if I'm being honest, wants very badly to find the Hero Killer and give him a piece of my mind…or my foot, as it were. He's killed and maimed many good people, my brother among them and he _needs_ to be stopped."

"However," Tenya stopped and turned to look Manual in the eyes, "I understand that it is not my place to do this. I've heard a firsthand account of the Hero Killer from the one who saved my brother and I fully recognize that if Ingenium and some of his most trusted and capable Sidekicks could not best him, then I most likely could not defeat him as I am. Furthermore, as he is slated to make a full recovery, he has the right to take his own revenge, should he desire it. Indeed, Team Idaten as a whole has that right. It would be wrong for me to deprive them of that, even if I were able."

"Not to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, but why are you here if that's the case?" Manual pressed him.

"Team Idaten has a large presence not just in Hosu, but the surrounding areas as well. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they have solidified their position as a pillar of modern Heroics." Tenya began, getting a nod of confirmation from Manual, "It is equally true that the incident with the Hero Killer dealt a devastating blow to Team Idaten, not only in terms of harm to their personnel but to morale, both internally and externally."

"Being a popular Hero means higher consequences when you suffer a loss." Manual said thoughtfully, "The public's confidence in not only you, but your entire agency may be shaken. For such a high-profile agency as Team Idaten, this wouldn't be a matter to take lightly."

"Exactly." Tenya confirmed, "As we saw earlier, my resemblance to Ingenium does not go unnoticed. I plan on using this to my advantage and, by my presence alone, demonstrating that Team Idaten remains unswayed by the incident. I will show that the company and the family shall both remain steadfast and unwavering. I am here for the sole purpose of saying 'I am here.'"

Yes. That was the answer that Tenya had arrived at. His friend's words had not fallen on deaf ears, even if it had taken him time to accept them.

"Well, color me impressed." Manual smiled and lowered his visor, obscuring his eyes, "I guess I misjudged you after all, Callidum."

"Not at all. I appreciate your concern."

 _At this time, in this place, this is what I should do: what is best for Team Idaten. It is what Tensei would want._

* * *

 **What does Tenya's change in demeanor mean for his involvement with the Hosu Incident? You'll just have to stick around and find out!**

 **Now for the bulk review response regarding the divisive (some might even say controversial) happenings between Izuku and the Todorokis last chapter:**

 **I'll start with the Izuku+Shoto conversation, which spawned two main points of concern that I was able to discern: A) Izuku was acting a bit out-of-character in his temper and level of aggression and B) Izuku is trying to convince Shoto to forgive Enji like he didn't do anything wrong.**

 **Point A was intentional to a certain degree. I deliberately haven't brought up much about Izuku's feelings regarding Hisashi until recently because it's actually an important plot point for him. Izuku would never dream of suggesting that he wishes one of his parents wasn't there and he has _extremely_ low tolerance for anyone who does, because _he knows what that's_ _like_ and, in his eyes, he'd take just about any sort of relationship, good or bad, with his father over him just not being a part of his life. Shoto obviously disagrees with this point, meaning that an argument was bound to happen if the two got onto this topic.**

 **Point B is flat-out wrong and anyone who came to that conclusion clearly misunderstood the dialogue. What Izuku is saying is that, while what happened was in no way Shoto's fault, it has been his conscious decision since then to not try and confront his father about the issue. He's making a _conscious decision_ to stay angry and miserable instead of trying to work through (and eventually past) what happened with Enji. Is this simple? No. Is this easy? Of course not. But Shoto's trying to become a top Hero, so taking the simple and easy road isn't an option. Izuku's essentially telling him to either make an effort to improve the situation or to stop bitching about it, which is absolutely a frame of thought I can get behind.  
**

 **Now for Izuku's conversation with Enji. The big one here is that some people seem to think that I'm stating that Enji doesn't regret how he acted with his children, Shoto in particular, even though I basically spell out that _he absolutely does_. For him, the ends justify the means because _they have to_. He's the sort who can't depend on the rest of the Heroes to do what needs to be done and build a stronger next generation because there's the chance that _they won't_ and he can't rest easy knowing that chance exists. If you want something done right, you need to do it yourself, after all. In this case, the potential consequences for failure are very, very bad, even to the point of outweighing not only his own happiness but that of his family. He refuses to let his regrets stop him from doing what he _believes he must do_. This sacrifice by no means stops him from being an asshole or undoes the wrongs he's committed, but I think it does go a long way towards humanizing him and explaining _why_ he does what he does, which is what I set out to do.**

 **I hope that helps explain why I handled things the way I did and assuages any doubts some of you might have about whether or not I personally condone certain actions. Because...of course I don't condone child abuse, nor do I believe in blaming the victim. I do however believe that if you are unhappy with a given situation then you have an obligation to do everything in your power to make that situation better. If you're doing that, then feel free to complain. Otherwise, shut the hell up because it obviously doesn't matter enough for you to try and _change_ it, _Inari_! I mean, _Kota!_ I mean, _Shoto_!**

 **Sorry that went on for a while, but I feel like it was an important topic to address, since it does deal with some important issues.**

 **As usual, if you're interested in what I do and would like to support me and see more in the process, check out my Pat_reon, Fires of Creation! You can find it by googling "pat_reon fires of creation" with the underscore removed!**

 **Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and all of my other patrons who are already supporting me in this way!**

 **Next time, Endeavor attempts to lure the Hero Killer and the League of Villains begins to implement their plan.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	58. Chapter 56: Happenstance

**Torchbearer has officially passed the 2,500 Follows mark, which is fantastic. We're also getting into the action of the Hosu arc with this chapter, so I hope everyone's excited!**

 **Review time:**

 **ProjectIceman, Corruption of Saints, The Keeper of Worlds, Eramis8, D3lph0xL0v3r, Constipated Genius, OmniAxilla, Superf7n Guy, The Incredible Muffin, The 0bservanc3 : Tenya's change in mentality compared to canon has been met with more or less universal positivity and that pleases me greatly. As you've probably noticed by now, out of everything I do in Torchbearer, I try to have my character's motivations and thought processes make sense in-character even (or rather, _especially_ ) when they deviate from canon. I don't lack confidence in my ability to do so, but I'm always at least a little nervous so having reassurance from my fans that I'm doing a good job is always welcome.  
**

 **ProjectIceman, Eramis8, Constipated Genius, Batmarcus, OmniAxilla, Superf7n Guy : We've been building up to the Hosu incident for a while now, so people are understandably getting excited for it. I hope you enjoy what I have planned!  
**

 **Corruption of Saints : The image of Kurogiri attempting to become the prison's bartender is amusing to me. His fate in Torchbearer is, of course, yet to be seen, but if he does get imprisoned, I might just do this.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Ochako is one of those characters that I don't seem to have much trouble writing. Good thing too, given her role in Torchbearer! As for Gunhead, I came to an odd realization: It seems like the more, well, _quirky_ a character is, the easier it is for me to capture their personality. Maybe because there's less guesswork involved? As for the rogue "a," it has been terminated with extreme prejudice. Your services are appreciated.  
**

 **The Hero report audits most likely take place exactly as you've guessed: Eyewitness accounts, police reports, news coverage, social media, etc. would all be perfect sources for them to consult. I'm trying to make sure that all of the "Big Six" get more coverage than in canon, given their increased importance. I know _of_ Endeavor's canon Sidekick, though I have not read that far in the Manga yet. I will confirm, however, that Saotome is not her. She may or may not exist in Torchbearer depending on how things go.**

 **uchihaNaruto247, Scarease, Guest, Hmmm, amawahibiki18, Ooobserver, Oi, Hmm, Sentinel07 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, let's have a look at what's going on in Hosu! It seems that a certain Pro Hero has drawn a crowd...**

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Six: Happenstance

"Is it true, as many have speculated, that your sudden decision to come to Hosu is because you believe that the Hero Killer isn't finished here yet?"

"It is."

"And do you think there is any chance of your presence serving to drive the Hero Killer to another location prematurely, thus causing the search to start all over again?"

"The chances of that are low enough to be worth the risk, though they were certainly a factor in my decision to come alone. The Hero Killer may be deranged, but by all accounts he is no fool. The statement issued by Team Idaten, as I'm sure you are aware, includes the fact that, while the Hero Killer did escape, he did not do so unharmed. It is therefore likely that he would be reluctant to face another large, coordinated force so soon. As such, I did not bring any other personnel from my agency with me."

Izuku Midoriya (or, as he supposed he should think of himself while in the field, Deku) watched from off-camera as Endeavor conducted the impromptu press release with a few reporters that had happened to be in the area. Shoto was making a show of not paying attention, though the Burning Hero suspected that he was still listening intently.

They had arrived in Hosu the previous day and had wasted no time going on patrol, selecting a route that took them along the busiest, most densely-populated streets. Izuku had wondered at first why Endeavor had chosen such an obvious route, but when he had announced without preamble that morning that they were going to conduct a press release, Izuku had begun to suspect that he had planned this from the beginning. This was confirmed with his next exchange with the reporters.

"Given that the Hero Killer seems to have a preference for high-profile targets when they are available, as evidenced by his attack on Ingenium, have you considered that this might entice him to target you while you are away from the rest of your agency?"

"I have."

"In that case, would the public be correct in interpreting this as you calling the Hero Killer out?"

"They would." a sudden flurry of photos and additional questions erupted from the reporters and the members of the general public that had been attracted to the spectacle. Endeavor allowed this to go on for a few moments before continuing.

"I am speaking now directly to the Hero Killer: Here I am. This is the best chance that you will ever have." he selected a nearby camera and glared directly into its lens, "Come and get me."

"Well, he is certainly confident, though I suppose it is not entirely unwarranted." Izuku spun around, startled by the voice and was met with a familiar suit of modernized armor.

"Iida-sa-er, I mean, Callidum!" he corrected himself upon remembering that they were in-costume and in the field, "What are you doing here?"

"Well-met, Deku-san. Celsius-san." his armored classmate greeted them with a nod, "As it happens, I was patrolling with my host Hero, Manual-san, when we noticed the crowd and, upon seeing Endeavor, I decided to search for you while Manual-san spoke with the press."

As he spoke, a man that Izuku recognized as the Normal Hero, Manual, made his way over, chatting with the lone reporter walking beside him.

"Callidum, it looks like you found your friends! Pleased to meet the both of you. Call me Manual." he extended a hand to Izuku, who shook it enthusiastically, then Shoto, who shook it briefly, "This is Matsuda." the reporter gave a friendly smile, "I'm not sure what he sees in me, but he's taken it upon himself to more or less be my exclusive reporter." this earned a bark of laughter from Matsuda.

"One of these days you'll take my advice and start giving yourself more credit, Manual! You should never underestimate the importance of local Heroes who devote their time to a specific place as opposed to the big-timers who constantly run around everywhere. You've got your own fanbase, you know?" he shook the Hero's shoulder in a familiar fashion before turning to the three boys, "Truth be told, I'm here for something of an exclusive. I had heard through the grapevine that Manual was seen walking around with a young man who bore a striking resemblance to Ingenium and I had remembered seeing Iida-san in the Sports Festival, so I put two and two together and realized that Manual must have taken him on as an intern and I simply had to have a word with him!"

"Frankly speaking," here Matsuda shot a glance at the group still interviewing Endeavor, "his story's going to get out there one way or another, so what's the point in adding one more camera to the mix? I'd much rather be the one who tells an interesting, less-covered story than to go for the low-hanging fruit. And of course," here he turned his gaze to Izuku and Shoto, "I recognize Todoroki-san from the Sports Festival too and given your costume, young man, you must be an intern of Endeavor's as well! This really is an opportunity too good to miss."

"You know him as well, Matsuda-san." Iida said and Izuku half-expected him to try and adjust his glasses, helmet or no, "This is Midoriya-san, though his Hero Name is 'Deku.'"

"Really?" Matsuda's excitement was palpable, "To think I'd see two who were such passionate opponents working alongside one another underneath the Number Two Hero! That really was an impressive match, you know." another glance at Endeavor's crowd, this time with a measuring quality to it, "Do you think I could steal a bit of your time? It looks like they'll have him occupied for at least another ten minutes or so and I'd love to get a few words from the perspective of the new generation of Heroes, as it were."

"Is, um, is that allowed?" Izuku looked to his classmates and then to Manual, who gave him a thumbs-up.

"Since you're unlicensed, it's probably best that you have a Hero supervise the interview, which I'm more than willing to do. Plus, Matsuda's a trustworthy reporter and he's nice enough to go easy on you. It'll make for good practice."

"My thoughts exactly." Matsuda nodded before giving a sheepish grin, "Well, part of them anyway."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

 _"I am speaking now directly to the Hero Killer: Here I am. This is the best chance that you will ever have. Come and get me."_

"Well, shit." Tomura Shigaraki lazily lifted an arm from the booth he was seated at and indicated the TV, "It looks like you've been called out, doesn't it?"

"I suppose it does." Stain replied from the table where his weapons were spread out in an orderly manner as he sharpened, polished and otherwise performed maintenance on them. Himiko sat opposite him, being uncharacteristically quiet as she focused intently on his actions and attempted to replicate them on her own collection of knives. Tomura had to admit, though her crazy level could be described as "batshit" on a _good_ day, she possessed the critical ability to discern those times when she needed to be serious and screwing around with weapons was definitely one of those times.

"Need some help figuring out how to take him down? Endeavor's a pretty high-level character. Might even be boss material. His build is pretty well-optimized too."

"No, that won't be necessary."

"Oh?" Tomura yawned and forced himself to sit up so he could properly look at the Hero Killer, "You've already got a plan? Share it with the rest of the party, why don't you? It must be a pretty good one for you to be so confident."

"My plan is to disengage as quickly as possible. The time is not right for his judgement."

"Huh?" Tomura wasn't the only one surprised by that statement. Himiko had nearly dropped one of her knives and even Kurogiri had paused while cleaning a glass.

"But, Stain, aren't you mad?" Himiko pressed him, "I mean, he's one of the False Heroes that needs to be culled from the world, isn't he? And he just challenged you on live TV in front of everyone! You can't let him get away with that, can you?"

"He is indeed one of those who must be judged." Stain set his sword down and spared a glance to the onlookers, "However, it would be suicide to confront a man like him without a significant advantage."

"Then let us help you! Let _me_ help you!" the girl practically begged, "I'm sure we could figure something out if we work together!"

"It wouldn't make a difference." Stain shook his head.

"How can you say that? We could-"

"You misunderstand." Kurogiri cut in before she could get more worked up, "I believe that what Stain is saying is that Endeavor would be a poor match-up, even if all of you fought him at once."

"That's correct." the man in question closed his eyes for a long moment, "The two of you are naïve. You think that you can defeat any Hero just because you aren't held back by the same constraints as they are, so you aren't thinking about this tactically."

"Bullshit!" Tomura shot back, "When you're facing a more powerful opponent, all you have to do is outnumber and overwhelm them. That's basic strategy!"

"And what will you do when your entire group is immolated before you can even touch this opponent?" Stain looked at Tomura directly, "Endeavor has the advantage against almost any close-range opponent which, need I remind you, we all are with the exception of Kurogiri and he's not a combatant. The one with the most ranged capabilities is myself and that only comes from throwing knives."

"But you've beaten strong Heroes before!" Himiko insisted, "You took down a whole group of Team Idaten's best, along with Ingenium himself!"

"Because of my tactics and my Quirk." Stain emphasized for what must have been the third time, "My preferred method is to ambush a target and either take them down immediately or immobilize them with my Quirk."

"So just do _that_." Tomura scoffed, "I don't get what the problem is. Stealth up and catch him flat-footed with a sneak attack. Even if you don't kill him, you'll still get his blood, right?"

"Because that's exactly what he's hoping I'll do. What Endeavor's done by issuing such a challenge is drastically increase the odds that he will be my next target. I can only assume that he has made himself familiar with my usual methods and is prepared to deal with them, even if he doesn't know how my Quirk works. Little does he know he has a near-perfect counter to it anyway, since all he has to do is flare up and burn away any blood before I have the chance to ingest it."

"Tomura Shigaraki." Kurogiri chimed in before he could respond, "If this was All Might we were dealing with, you wouldn't believe that we could win like this, would you?"

"Of course I wouldn't, but Endeavor isn't as powerful as All Might."

"He _is_ , however, second _only_ to All Might as far as Heroes are concerned." the misty bartender pointed out, "Your binary method of classifying Heroes as either 'All Might' or 'not All Might' is dangerous. Just because our master can get away with that does not mean that we can. Or are you saying that we can compare to his power, working together or not?"

"Of course we can't." Tomura admitted, beginning to understand where the two older men were coming from, "Even so, knowingly or not, by calling you out, he's calling out the entire League of Villains." he pointed at Stain "We can't just let this go!"

"I don't recall joining your little group."

"You're not leaving, are you Stain?" Himiko gave him a suddenly watery-eyed look, "It's really nice having someone else to talk to and I know Kurogiri appreciates not having to be the only voice of reason."

"Hey!" Tomura took offense to that last part, but Himiko ignored him and continued.

"I know you've changed a bit from when you first came here. You don't seem so angry and tired all the time and, well, it might not mean as much to you as it does to me, but I know a small part of you appreciates having others to talk to. So…so don't leave. Please?"

Tomura was momentarily dumbstruck by Himiko's sudden outpouring of emotion. It wasn't as though she wasn't an emotional girl, far from it in fact, but he had seldom seen her express any form of sadness, her usual emotional states tending to be some variation of happiness, bloodthirstiness, curiosity and affection.

 _For her to be affected like this…just what does she think this is?_

"…We'll see." Stain eventually responded, picking up his sword and resuming his maintenance, "My mind will be made up one way or the other after tonight."

"That's right; everything will be ready in a few hours." Tomura latched on to the familiar territory of their plan, which they had gone over at least half a dozen times, "Do we need to alter the plan to account for Endeavor's presence?"

"I'd recommend a flee-on-sight policy for anyone you don't want to risk losing." Stain confirmed, "If you don't care, then let them do what they want."

"Well, truth be told, our shock troops are expendable. They're just NPCs after all. Still, they're not as powerful as the one we sent against All Might, so they probably don't have much chance of beating him. They could probably serve as a decent distraction if they had to, though."

"Communication will be key." Kurogiri stated, holding up a small earpiece, "You all have your communicators, correct?" the occupants of the bar gave various noises of affirmation.

"It's kinda itchy though." Himiko complained.

"Are you still insisting on the chain of command that you previously suggested?" Stain frowned at Tomura.

"Sure. This is your show, Hero Killer, so that means you call the shots. This is your loyalty mission after all; the rest of us are the supporting cast this time. As long as you don't order us to do anything stupid, of course."

"I can't promise I'll have any specific orders for you once things get going, but I'll accept this, since you insist on forcing it upon me. If you catch sight of Endeavor, make sure to communicate his location to the rest of the group and do not engage. Kurogiri will be on standby monitoring everyone's location via GPS and if anyone requests extraction for any reason, they get pulled out immediately via Warp Gate."

"And what are we doing once we're on the ground?" Tomura prompted.

"The shock troops will spread destruction indiscriminately in order to draw as many Heroes to the scene as possible. Our primary purpose will be to observe and judge. If a Hero overtly does anything to place another Hero in danger or attempts to flee while there are still civilians in the area, eliminate them. If a Hero attempts to bargain with you or the shock troops, eliminate them. If a Hero fails to act or attempts to flee while they are still able to act, eliminate them."

"What if it looks like one of the shock troops is going to be defeated?"

"As you said, they are expendable. Their sole purpose is to provide a litmus test for the Heroes in the area. The only exception to the rules is if one of you is in danger of being captured. At that point, it is acceptable to disable or eliminate whomever you must in order to escape."

Stain had been against the treatment of the shock troops at first, until Kurogiri and Tomura had shown him what they really were. Given that they were mindless beings created only to serve the League of Villains, Stain couldn't really lobby any additional complaints.

"I have to admit, I don't really see the point in leaving any of them alive when we could just kill them all and get some easy XP out of the deal, but like I said: you're in charge. I'll do as you say." Tomura agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

"Well _I_ don't have any problems at all doing what Stain says!" Himiko said proudly.

"My role is as it usually is, so I have no complaints." Kurogiri nodded.

"Very well. We will move out as planned in five hours, locate an appropriate point to release the shock troops and thereafter begin our attack."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

All things considered, the interview with Matsuda had gone pretty well, at least in Izuku's opinion. It could certainly have been much worse, but the reporter had refrained from asking any particularly pointed questions, instead contenting himself with asking the boys how their first semester at U.A. was going, how they felt about their internships, what sorts of Heroes they wanted to be and, when they had a bit of time at the end, if they could recount some of the Sports Festival highlights from their point of view.

Afterwards, Manual and Iida had joined Izuku, Shoto and Endeavor in their patrol of the main streets for a while as the two Pro Heroes exchanged information and coordinated their routes for the next few days in order to cover more ground. Izuku noticed that, while Manual certainly seemed deferential to Endeavor, the Flame Hero payed close attention to what he had to say.

There was a noticeable increase in tension after the press release, what with the looming threat of the Hero Killer coming out of the woodwork to take Endeavor up on his challenge, but as they progressed through the day and eventually broke for dinner before beginning their night patrol, there was no sign of him. To prepare for the possibility, Endeavor and Manual had agreed on a particular radio frequency that they and their interns would use while they were in Hosu. The occasional bit of cross-talk was slightly annoying, but if the worst happened, the connection could be invaluable.

Having patrolled the major streets, the decision was made to stop by the site of the Hero Killer's battle with Team Idaten and search the larger alleyways from there. Even if they didn't find their target, they might still come across other criminals, especially at night.

They didn't find anything at the site of the previous battle, but their disappointment was cut short due in no small part to the sudden explosion that emanate from the main street, accompanied by an inhuman roar.

"No way!" Izuku rushed off at once, followed closely by Shoto and Endeavor.

"You don't think…" Shoto trailed off, though Izuku was fairly certain that his mind was going in the same direction. Izuku didn't respond, but when they burst out of the alley and beheld the scene before them, he didn't need to.

People were running in all directions, the glow of flames and the sound of screaming filled the air and in the middle of it all was a humanoid figure with pale-green skin and four eyes protruding from its exposed brain.

"Nomu!" Izuku's fears were realized as the figure's head snapped around, possibly reacting to its name, as it released a tortured scream and leapt at him only to be interrupted by a stream of flames from Endeavor. Izuku leapt to the side as the beast crashed to the ground with a howl before standing up, still engulfed in flames, and seemingly absorbing them into its body, though the burns still remained.

"Well, that's potentially problematic." Endeavor observed as he circled around to flank the Nomu, unsure of what it would do next, "It appears that it has a similar ability to you, Deku."

 _It looks that way, but if that's really the case, then-_

"Get back!" Izuku shouted, seizing Shoto and kicking back with a smash-assisted leap just as the Nomu raised its head skyward with a scream and flames exploded out of its body in all directions. In spite of his actions, he had not reacted quickly enough to avoid the wave of force that washed over him and Shoto, sending them further away and causing them to roll along the ground before regaining their feet.

"If fire won't work, then how about this!?" Shoto slammed his right foot onto the ground and sent a wave of ice towards the Nomu, which froze in place mid-charge thanks to the ice creeping up its legs. Endeavor suddenly appeared behind it, apparently having been closer than Izuku and Shoto.

"HA!" a burning fist crashed into the side of the Nomu's face and sent it careening into the wreckage of a nearby truck with a loud clang as Endeavor drew his arm back, a ball of fire forming in his palm before being hurled at the dazed monster.

 ***KABOOM***

The condensed ball of fire exploded on contact, though Izuku was taken aback by the amount of smoke that emanated from the wreckage of-

No, not smoke.

Steam.

It had absorbed Shoto's ice.

"GYAAAAUUUUU!" the Nomu's roar was all the warning any of them had before the beast shot out of the cloud of vapor and dealt Endeavor a crushing blow that sent him staggering towards the boys, having managed to get his guard up in time. Izuku dry-swallowed as he realized that the Nomu was a good deal larger than it had been before, muscles bulging to an unnatural degree; clearly Quirk-related.

"Just like the one at USJ, it has multiple Quirks!"

"Did you say USJ? That means the same organization is likely behind this attack." Endeavor raised his fists and stared the Nomu down as it tilted its head to the side, apparently puzzled that its target was still standing and trying to decide what to do next, "It probably goes without saying, but I'm authorizing you two to use your Quirks in order to defend yourselves and others for the duration of this incident. Now leave this to me and go help the civilians!"

Izuku wasted no time questioning these orders and took off towards a nearby burning building, Shoto close behind him.

" _This is Celsius. Endeavor has engaged an assailant known as Nomu near the intersection of Fourth and Main. Deku and I are attempting damage control. Request assistance, over."_ Izuku heard Shoto relaying the situation via their earpieces and he mentally kicked himself for not thinking of that.

" _This is Callidum. We have a situation of our own here: Manual is currently fighting multiple fires and I am assisting civilians. I saw a winged figure flying overhead, likely another Nomu, over."_

Another Nomu? That wasn't good.

Izuku summoned a large amount of fire towards himself from the building and cut off his Quirk once there was no more, letting the flames fizzle out with no fuel to latch on to and marveling at how effective his Enterprium costume was at protecting him from the roaring blaze. Shoto was creating layers of ice over smaller fires, which melted into water and caused some to gradually die down while others were extinguished immediately.

" _This is the Hosu Police Department on an open frequency. We have reports of multiple Heroes engaging with a large, black Villain with an exposed brain, but they're being pushed back. We request backup from any available Heroes in the area. The location is the park by Sixth and Atsumori."_

A _third_ Nomu?! This was getting ridiculous!

"Come on, let's get over there." Shoto ran down the street towards the nearest intersection and Izuku followed, frantically scanning the area for any civilians that might need help or, heaven forbid, yet another Nomu.

 _There has to be a faster way to get to those Heroes! Think…we're headed towards Fifth right now and Atsumori is the next street over from Main, isn't it? It'll take too long! Unless…_

"Celsius! We can cut through the alleyways!" Izuku shouted as he spotted a gap between two buildings that seemed to run straight through to the other side and dashed into it. He charged ahead, wishing that he could use his Quirk to hasten his movements but not wanting to leave his fellow intern behind when who-knew-what could be waiting for them just around the corner.

It was at that moment that Izuku caught a glimpse of something around the corner that caused him to freeze in his tracks.

The happenstance that led to him recognizing this particular detail as noteworthy was actually a rather impressive one. Had Endeavor not decided to hold his impromptu press conference at a place and time where Iida had been in the area with Manual, which had not in turn led to Iida meeting up with Izuku and then deciding to give him more information on the Hero Killer, including his most recent appearance and, furthermore, if a particular detail had not stuck in Izuku's mind, he would have kept moving without a second thought.

But when he just so happened to notice a flicker of red cloth turning down a side alley from the intersection he was currently passing, Izuku remembered the scarf that the Hero Killer was said to wear.

And in that moment, something in his gut told him that someone was in grave danger.

Not a situation, in other words, that he could leave alone.

* * *

 **I feel like the Nomu kind of got spanked in canon, even though the eyeless Nomu is a mid-end, which should place him on a similar level of power as USJ Nomu. Granted, Endeavor provided a hard counter to him whereas USJ Nomu was developed to be a hard counter to All Might, but even so, I feel like they should be scarier than canon lets them be. I hope that comes across in a believable way here and going forward.**

 **As we move into the holiday season, there is a chance that a post or two might be missed due to family-related stuff. I will make sure to let you guys know in advance when things are more solidified, just like I've done in the past.**

 **If you like what I do here and are interested in seeing more of my work and/or supporting me directly, check out my Pat_reon, Fires of Creation. You can find it by googling "Fires of Creation Pat_reon" with the underscore removed. Among the things you can find there is an ongoing audiobook adaptation of Torchbearer, my original Light Novel-styled story, ContRact, Pat_reon-exclusive bonus content for Torchbearer and more!**

 **Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and all of the others who are already supporting me in this way!**

 **Next time, Endeavor faces off against a bio-engineered monstrosity, Izuku comes face-to-face with Stain and a certain Villain makes an early appearance.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	59. Chapter 57: Such a Thing to Say

**This chapter flowed pretty easily overall, especially considering how worn out I was this week. I'm pretty happy with it.**

 **Review time:**

 **ProjectIceman, Constipated Genius, Batmarcus, Eramis8, Corruption of Saints, uchihaNaruto247, Scarease, Death of Snipers, Reverseflash, Ooobserver : The reception of the stronger Nomu is pretty positive, which gladdens me. These things are supposed to be scary but anything mid-end or below (with the occasional exception) tends to get bodied pretty hard in canon. There are certain situations where it makes sense, but I feel like the bar needs to be raised.  
**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r, Constipated Genius, Batmarcus, Eramis8, Death of Snipers, DblHi5, Superf7n Guy : I'm sure this has been obvious to everyone for a while, but the confrontation with Stain will definitely be different than in canon. Here's hoping I do it justice!  
**

 **ProjectIceman : It's always great to hear that I've helped to inspire others!**

 **Reverseflash : You are indeed correct that the pale Nomu are the low-ends and are weaker than the mid-end black Nomus and the high-end Nomu (though we've only seen one high-end so far in canon so I can't make any calls about what differentiates them except maybe intelligence and Quirk capacity), as well as that only the black Nomu (so mid-end and high-end) have regeneration. I'm keeping that power dynamic in-place, but given that USJ Nomu was a mid-end (even if he was an unusually strong mid-end), I feel justified in raising the threat level of the weaker Nomus a bit.**

 **Superf7n Guy : Izuku's eyes do not glow orange when he uses base smashes, only when he infuses fire into them or uses Flame Cowl. They do sometimes take on a dull orange color when he is feeling particularly strongly about something (when his fire is lit, you might say), such as when Ochako said she didn't deserve to be a Hero, but they do not glow anywhere near as brightly.**

 **Dark White Fang : I know what you mean. I ended up liking Denki more and more as I kept writing him and there's something refreshing about how comparatively simple his motivations are compared to people like Izuku, Katsuki or Tenya. That and his personality and worldview are different enough that he's refreshing to write every now and then. He will definitely continue to play a bigger role than in canon.**

 **Animeguy1101 : This is a good question. I have indeed heard of fire-retardant gel thanks to Corridor Digital's dive into fire-based stunts and the stuntman that they interviewed (or maybe it was one of the crew members who later set himself on fire) said that one of the biggest gripes with that stuff is how ungodly _cold_ it is. Like, he's on fire and he's freezing. My conclusion on this is that, while it's good for planned things or instant use, walking around for hours on end wearing it is most likely not a good idea.  
**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Nice reference. What Matsuda meant by that last line is that, while he's going easy on the boys because it's good to have practice, he's also a reporter and building an early relationship with future Heroes could mean easier, or even exclusive, access to stories. Guy's gotta eat after all. I always thought that Stain would have to be pretty intelligent, or at least highly tactical, in order to do as much damage as he's done without getting caught. It's funny that you'd mention Dabi...I feel like you'll get your answers to that in this chapter. Just a hunch.**

 **PxFive, The Keeper of Worlds, Dragonball Shin, FuryJoe, kavoss, ScepticalOne, Dragon Man 180, Sentinel07 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **We now return to your previously-scheduled Endeavor fight, already in-progress.**

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Such a Thing to Say

As Endeavor leapt into a roll to avoid the blow that sent fragments of concrete exploding in all directions and twisted as said roll brought him back to his feet, sending yet another stream of flames at the monster that was apparently referred to as "Nomu," he mentally remarked that he was getting much more of a workout than he had planned for on his trip to Hosu.

The reason for this was a fairly basic one, really: a fundamental mismatch of abilities and fighting styles. The Nomu charged forward, using its ever-increasing physical strength to attempt to crush its target, while the Flame Hero preferred a more mid-range strategy of torching his opponent with his flames and resorting to physical combat when it got too close in order to stun it, regain his distance and repeat until neutralized. Ordinarily, such an approach would provide Endeavor with an advantage. Indeed, he had defeated many a Villain in such a way in his time as a Pro Hero.

But there was one key factor that made the four-eyed Nomu different: it had multiple Quirks, one of which allowed it to absorb and expel Endeavor's flames, though it still seemed to suffer damage. Couple that with the fact that it seemed to either not feel pain or disregard it along with how its already Quirk-enhanced strength seemed to be steadily increasing and the Number Two Hero was being forced to utilize more defensive tactics than he usually favored or else suffer extensive blunt-force trauma.

And coming from a Hero with no shortage of confidence in his own level of physical prowess, that was saying something.

For heaven's sake, he could _see_ the thing's muscles warping and expanding before his very eyes! Not only was this giving it increased strength, it was also giving Endeavor that much more he had to burn through before he could deal anything beyond surface-level damage, which hardly seemed to be enough to slow the beast down, let alone _stop_ it.

That left him with two options: Either take it down with a single overwhelming blow or wear it out from far enough away that he could keep up a steady stream of damage while predicting and avoiding its counterattacks. After all, it was clearly not invincible, just extremely hardy.

Endeavor's experience told him that it was better to err on the side of caution, particularly when dealing with an opponent whose abilities he was not fully aware of. This went double for an opponent with multiple Quirks whom he strongly suspected had not yet revealed all of their tricks.

Long-range it was.

The Flame Hero formed a flaming javelin in his hand and hurled it towards the Nomu as it charged towards him, skewering its leg and causing it to crash into a nearby building. While it roared and righted itself, its opponent took the chance to sprint in the opposite direction until he had reached his maximum effective range, forming a fireball in each hand as he did so. When he had reached his destination, he whirled around and began hurling a barrage of explosive fireballs at the charging Nomu.

True to form, the beast did not stop its approach in spite of the damage it was clearly sustaining. Once it had covered about three quarters of the distance between them, Endeavor formed another javelin and made to repeat the process. His plan was interrupted when the Nomu's throat and mouth suddenly bulged briefly, providing the only warning the Hero got before it expelled rapidly-extending mass of flesh that twisted, writhed and split into multiple tendrils as it shot towards him. It was a testament to the many things the man had seen and the multitude of Quirks he had fought against that he was able to react in time to get away with only a glancing blow to his shoulder.

Upon striking him, the entirety of the beast's tongue exploded into a mass of flames, sending him flying. While the heat did not harm him, he certainly felt the pair of impacts from the explosion and the truck that he slammed into, his large frame nearly knocking the vehicle over.

"Ugh!" the wind was knocked from Endeavor's lungs as he bounced off of the steel frame, staggering forward as he focused on keeping his feet underneath him and searching for his enemy.

"HRAAAAA!"

"What the-"

The Nomu had managed to appear next to him under the cover of the dust and smoke created by the release of all the fire it had absorbed until then and, dazed and winded as he was, Endeavor's reaction speed was just a half-second too slow.

 ***POW***

A massive fist crashed into the Flame Hero's hastily-erected one-armed guard, sending a jolt of pain through his left shoulder as the follow-through carried him off of the ground and launched him skyward. The Nomu chased after him on the ground, hooting triumphantly.

 _I haven't been thrown around like this in a long time…I guess that only leaves me with one option. I might need to cool down a bit after this._

Endeavor righted himself in midair, raised his clenched right fist towards the heavens and began to focus his heat into it. It ignited at once, as usual, but as he concentrated, the flames began to flicker more wildly and their orange hue became lighter, brightening until his hand was enveloped in white-hot flames. But he didn't stop there. This needed to be a one-shot kill or he would most likely become too injured to move on as the fight dragged out.

As Endeavor began to descend, he pointed his head downwards towards his opponent, fist held out to the side as the white flames became tinted with a blue that gradually deepened until it actually started to look dimmer by comparison. These were the hottest, most powerful flames that the Number Two Hero was able to produce.

 _I can't use my most powerful attack from this angle because of the collateral damage it would cause. Plus I don't want to vaporize him completely. I need to make sure his body can be studied in case there are more...which means it has to be_ this _attack._

"Flashfire Fist…" a sudden jet of flames from the soles of his feet sent the Hero shooting towards the Nomu with a burst of speed that caught the creature off-guard and left it wide open, "HELL STRIKE!"

Endeavor did not reduce his speed for fear of colliding with the ground. He did not pull back to brace himself for impact. He simply poured as much power as he could into his fist and used the body of his target to break his fall. There was a bonce or two as they skidded to a stop and once they had stopped moving, the victor tugged his fist free in a single, smooth motion before quenching the flames surrounding it, observing the carbonized flesh left behind in the gaping hole where the monster's heart used to be.

Enji Todoroki took no special pleasure in observing his handiwork, but he needed to make sure the thing was actually dead. Having been surprised by it no fewer than three times throughout the course of their battle had made him extra-cautious regarding any hidden abilities the creature may have yet possessed.

After a moment though, it became clear that even a monster like that would die if you destroyed its heart. Once he had convinced himself of this fact, Endeavor became aware of the pain in his left shoulder.

"…Dislocated." he determined after a moment.

 ***Crunch***

With a grunt and a grimace, he popped his shoulder back into its socket and moved it around to get it settled properly. He would have a doctor look at it later, after the incident was over. For the time being, he was combat-ready. He spared a backwards glance at the reddish smear and fist-sized trench that had been melted into the street from his final attack before turning and jogging off towards the sounds of additional trouble.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Izuku Midoriya was having something of an "oh shit" moment. This was due in large part to the fact that he seemed to have, quite by accident, located the Hero Killer. The other main contributing factor was that, contrary to what he had believed, Shoto was not behind him.

In other words, he had found the man responsible for the deaths and debilitating injuries of a by no means inconsiderable number of fully-fledged Pro Heroes _and he had no backup_.

 _What happened?! Did he not hear me when I said I had found a shortcut?_

 _I mean…probably, yeah. It's not exactly quiet out there and he was kind of focused._

Izuku peered around the corner, seeing that the Hero Killer was stationary for the moment, seemingly observing the goings-on from the end of the alleyway.

 _Okay. I should have time to radio in for help._

He activated his communicator and spoke in a low voice, trying to remain calm while keeping an eye on Stain.

"This is Deku. I have eyes on the Hero Killer and request immediate backup. The location is an alley between Main and Atsumori, just south of where Atsumori intersects-agh!"

He was prevented from giving the rest of his directions as a knife came flying towards his head and he barely managed to shift out of its path as it struck the part of his respirator just over his right ear and spun off, skating across the ground.

He had known. He had known and he had waited for the moment when Izuku had been distracted while giving directions. If he hadn't moved, Enterprium costume or no, that would have drawn blood. It might even have killed him if it had hit him in the eye.

"It would be a problem if a bunch of Heroes all came after me at once, so I'm afraid I can't let you finish that message." The man was walking towards him, hand drifting to the sword sheathed across his back, "Show yourself and be judged."

 _You could run._

The Hero Killer drew nearer.

 _You probably_ should _run._

Another moment passed.

… _Fine. Have it your way._

Deku rose to his feet and stepped around the corner, hands raised and prepared to defend himself. He didn't ignite his flames, not wanting to give away his Quirk until the last possible moment.

" _While a Hero does not know his opponent's Quirk, he must remain cautious, for he has no way of knowing what might happen. But, you know, the same is true in reverse! So, to all of you who are worried about not being well-known, I say embrace it! More than one Villain has given me a hard time because they already knew what I could do, you know?"_ an old interview from All Might played back in his mind.

 _That's right. I might not know what he can do, but he doesn't know what I can do either. I need to wait for the right moment!_

"You're him, aren't you? The Hero Killer, Stain."

"A child?" the man seemed taken aback for a moment, "You know who I am and yet you have taken it upon yourself to seek me out. Your costume is too high-quality for you to simply be out playing Hero. A student, then?"

 _Keep him talking._

"That's right." Deku nodded, "I'm actually here on an internship."

"I see." Stain nodded slightly, "That explains why you are here, but not why you followed me. Are you trying to earn extra credit by bringing me in? Or perhaps you seek revenge for one of those I have judged? Choose your words carefully, else I will not stay my blade simply because you are a child."

 _I should have heard something from the comms by now. Some sort of response or request for a repeat. Why haven't I heard anything?_

With his mind focused on this problem, Izuku had no time to come up with a carefully-crafted response, so he opted for the truth.

"No, I'm not here for revenge. That isn't something a Hero should strive for, though I'm sure a friend of mine would really like the chance to give you a piece of his mind, if nothing else. I don't believe that I could take you down on my own either, at least not like this."

"Then why?" Stain pressed him.

 _He must have damaged the headset with that knife! Damn! If only I had been just a bit faster!_

"Because when I saw you, I knew that, student or not, I couldn't just let you go. You've killed too many and caused too much pain. If I could just stand by and let you go unchallenged, how could I call myself a Hero?"

"Unchallenged, you say? Of all people, I am not one to discount someone out of hand, but the fact remains that you are not ready, boy. I shall allow you to live if you run now."

Izuku found the balls to chuckle at that.

"Not ready? Of course I'm not, but why would that matter? Heroes don't have the luxury of saying things like 'I'm not ready' or 'What could I do?' They always have to be ready to act! And one other thing," the aspiring Hero jabbed his thumb into the center of his chest, "when I'm wearing this costume, my name is 'Deku' and while I appreciate your offer, I'm sorry to say I can't extend the same to you, Villain."

" _Come, join me, All Might! Together, there would be no limits to what we could achieve! Take my hand, swear loyalty to me and all shall be forgiven!"_

" _As tempting as that may be, I couldn't call myself the Symbol of Peace if I agreed to that. I'm sorry to say that, while I appreciate your offer, I cannot extend the same to you, Villain."_

" _Such a thing to say…"_

"Such a thing to say!" Stain's eyes widened and his mouth stretched into an impossible grin, "Excellent! You may yet prove yourself worthy, Deku! However, words alone cannot show a Hero's true worth."

Deku tensed as Stain's hand went to another of the knives at his waist. He prepared himself to dodge, to ignite, to do whatever he had to do to react to the Hero Killer's attack-

When stain did a sharp about-face and tore off down the alleyway, it was the scream that snapped Izuku out of his momentary shock.

"It just so happens that you were one of the ones on my list." Stain pulled the knife out of the shoulder of the man dressed like a Native American, kicking him and causing him to bounce off of a wall as he licked the knife with a bizarrely long tongue, at which point the man slumped to the ground, "Skulking around while there is work to be done? For shame, Native. You are truly one of the pretenders. But rejoice: your judgement has been postponed. I have found a use for you."

"Let him go!" Deku shouted, causing Stain to look at him and grin yet again.

"That's right! The time has come for you to act! Show me that you are worthy of the title 'Hero,' Deku!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"AUUUUGH!"

"How did that not work?!"

"What the hell _is_ this thing?!"

"Careful, don't let it grab you or you're done for!"

 _Look at them all._

 _Just look at them._

 _They're supposed to defend others, but when push comes to shove, they can't even defend_ themselves _._

 _What a joke._

Still, he had to hand it to them: it was a pretty funny joke. It was all he could do not to bust out laughing as the supposed "Heroes" got thrown around like ragdolls by…whatever the hell that thing with no eyes and an exposed brain was. It wasn't pretty to look at, but then again who was _he_ to talk?

He had originally come to Hosu because he knew that Endeavor would be there, courtesy of that little stunt he had pulled to try and lure out the Hero Killer. It was hard to catch the bastard away from his tower and his entourage, but this would be a good opportunity to do just that. What was more, because he was focused on the Hero Killer, there was a chance that he wouldn't be looking for other attackers.

A _slim_ chance, granted, but it was still a chance.

So he had shown up a couple of hours ago, intending to scope out the place and make his move the next day after he'd figured out where the Flame Hero was holed up. Pretty standard procedure, really. He was even prepared for the situation to be untenable, at which point he'd retreat and try again later. What he had _not_ expected was for these freaks of nature to show up out of _nowhere_ and start lighting the place up like a fucking fireworks display!

Not that he was complaining, of course; far from it. He was having a good old time enjoying the show and occasionally joining in the festivities by setting something on fire. After all, you couldn't put a price tag on free entertainment and money was something he wasn't exactly rolling in at the moment.

Plus, if there was one thing he had learned, it was that you had to play the hand that life gave you.

…At least until it was time to burn it off.

"REEEEEAWWRRRR!"

"AHHH!"

"Oh, Jesus, no!"

"Hahaha~!" he couldn't contain it anymore, "Yeah! Get 'em, eyeless brain guy!" the creature's lack of a face turned towards him, "Aw, shit."

It began stomping towards him purposefully.

"No no, I'm not one of them. I'm not here to stop you."

"Hurr…"

"Seriously, if anything I'm a fan. Go on, back to what you were doing before."

"RAWR!" a meaty hand shot out, but he sidestepped it easily, placing his hand on its wrist.

"I mean it, big guy, you don't wanna do this." the skin beneath his palm began to sizzle and smoke, causing the creature to scream, "See what I mean?"

"ARR!" it threw him off with its superior strength and ran at him, both hands extended this time. He couldn't help but sigh.

"Alright, fine." his hands and forearms flared to life, covered in blue flames, "But don't say I didn't warn you."

He ran at the creature, vaulting over the surprised beast's shoulders and twisting in midair to look down at its back.

"HA!"

 ***FWOOM***

A pillar of azure flame exploded to life, engulfing the monster and everything within its general radius. The thing screamed and flailed about, trying to put the fire out.

"What's wrong? You don't like that? I thought you wanted to play!"

 ***FWOOM***

The flames flared up with renewed intensity as he landed on his feet.

"Come on! You were _dominating_ those losers over there a second ago! What happened?" he pretended to think for a moment before grinning widely enough that he felt the clips holding the corners of his mouth in place begin to strain, "Oh yeah, I remember:"

 ***FWOOM***

"You fucked with the wrong guy."

He punctuated this statement by extinguishing his stinging arms with a flourish, but leaving the now thoroughly-carbonized creature to burn.

"Hey, thanks mister, you saved us!"

"Yeah, are you a new Hero or something? I'd love to get your card!"

"My agency has been looking for a partnership recently. If you like, I could have my people call your people and we could work something out?"

Oh, god, they thought he was _helping_ them.

Well, maybe this was his chance? If he took up with one of them, he'd be paid and taken care of. He might be able to really turn things around. He took the hand of the man with the partnership offer and smiled at him.

"Fuck you."

 ***FWOOM***

He spent the next couple of minutes immolating what remained of the forces that had been fighting with the eyeless brain guy before extinguishing his now thoroughly-smarting arms and taking a moment to sniff one.

"Whew, thought I might've taken it a bit too far for a moment there. I really should chill out after a display like that."

"Hey, that was pretty cool! Or, I guess I should say 'hot?' But you're not really my type. Not to say you aren't handsome, but I'm more into blood than burns." he whirled around and stared blankly at the girl who looked as though she was really taking a moment to consider if she had used the correct word or not before she shrugged and pouted at him, "But did you really have to go and kill that Nomu? I was the one in charge of watching him, you know!"

"Are you crazy or something?"

"I'unno, probably." she shrugged, "But you need to come with me so I can explain to Shiga why that Nomu died. It's probably not all bad, since you _did_ kill all those Heroes too, so he might forgive you!"

"And why the hell would I do that?"

"Well, call me crazy…again…but, there're a lot more Heroes around, you know? And if they find out you killed a bunch of people, they probably won't be happy with you. And you look like you're hurt or something, so getting out of here before they find you would probably be a good idea, right?"

Was it just him, or did the crazy chick have a point? He really hadn't planned this out beyond "find Endeavor and kill him" and while that plan had been pretty solid in his humble opinion, things generally started to fall apart when he started improvising.

Like he had just done.

And was apparently going to keep doing.

"Alright, fine. Lead the way, uh…do you have a name or should I keep calling you 'crazy?'"

"Oh, I'm Himiko Toga! My friends call me 'Himiko,' but we just met, so I guess you get to call me 'Toga.' If you sneak a '-chan' in there though, I won't mind. What's your name?"

"Call me 'Dabi.'"

* * *

 **And in a bizarre twist of fate, instead of serving as a badass-indicator for Endeavor, the Eyeless Nomu serves as a badass-indicator for Dabi! Poor guy can't seem to catch a break.** **I also like the idea of introducing the L.o.V. members gradually instead of having them all show up and once like in canon. It just feels more natural to me and gives me the chance to flesh them out individually a bit more if I so choose.**

 **Giving Stain the chance to talk to Izuku...what sort of impact might this have going forward? It's a good thing he's not Naruto or he'd have Stain repenting by the end of the arc and I'm not done with him yet!**

 **If you like what I do here and would like to see more and/or support me in a more direct way, have a look at my Pat_reon, Fires of Creation. You can find it easily by googling "Fires of Creation Pat_reon" with the underscore removed.**

 **Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and all of my other patrons who are already supporting me!**

 **Next time, Stain tests Izuku to see if he is truly worthy of being a Hero and we find out what Tomura's been up to during all this. What will the outcome be? You'll just have to stay tuned and find out!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	60. Chapter 58: A Parting Gift

**Well, here we are: the fight that a lot of people have been looking forward to. Here's hoping that you all enjoy what I did. It came out differently than I first envisioned, but I like it overall.**

 **But before that, we have review time:**

 **Reverseflash, The 0bservanc3 : Regarding the Nomu, as far as I can tell the white/green ones are low-end, the black ones (who all have regeneration) are mid-end and the only high-end we've seen so far canonically is Hood, so it's hard to say what defines them, but I would guess higher Quirk capacity and the ability to speak. The one that Dabi smoked was a mid-end and the one that Endeavor fought is a low-end, albeit one that matched his abilities fairly well and had the element of surprise, being that he had no idea what to expect. Glad to see that people enjoyed that fight, incidentally.**

 **As far as USJ Nomu goes, it's entirely possible that he was canonically a high-end and my understanding of them is off-base, but as far as power-scaling goes, I like the idea that he was a mid-end that was specifically developed to counter All Might. Quick matchups are important, after all.**

 **Slayer76, ProjectIceman, Batmarcus, D3lph0xL0v3r, MasterBlade47, Dragon Man 180, Death of Snipers, Constipated Genius, DblHi5, Ooobserver, Corruption of Saints : Definitely not a surprise that the imminent Stain fight is getting a lot of attention. Suffice to say that your questions will be answered...RIGHT NOW!**

 **tacktician : This is a good idea.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : Endeavor having to fight Four Eyes by himself was mainly due to him and his interns being the first ones on the scene mere seconds after that particular Nomu started breaking things, otherwise yeah, there would've been others trying to help, at least until Endeavor told them to back off because they were getting in the way or something. Only Four Eyes has the tongue thing as far as I know (flying Nomu wears a gas mask).**

 **All of Dabi's fire is blue, which at minimum puts it on-par with Endeavor's higher levels, if not necessarily his highest, yes. The main problem is that his body can't handle his own fire, since he inherited Rei's frail constitution. Izuku assumed the headset was broken because he never heard a response, yes. Regarding Native, he wasn't there at first. Izuku found Stain just before he would have attacked him and the sounds of their talking alerted Native to their presence.**

 **Animeguy1101 : Endeavor's costume (as well as Izuku's and Shoto's) is specifically engineered to vent excess heat and cool him down so that he can continue to use his Quirk beyond his normal limits, though of course his super attacks can still cause him to overheat if he uses them repeatedly. It's plausible that he may have used gel at one point while he was trying to figure things out though.**

 **Corruption of Saints : Yeah, the Dabi section was short and sweet. We'll get a better look at him later on of course, but I get what you mean. I was honestly running a bit short on time when I wrote that section XD**

 **uchinaNaruto247, The Keeper of Worlds, brambleus, BoinkChonklll and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!**

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Eight: A Parting Gift

" _That's right! The time has come for you to act! Show me that you are worthy of the title 'Hero,' Deku!"_

Deku shot down the alleyway with a smash-assisted run, spitting a fireball at Stain in an effort to get him out of the way so that he could get to the wounded Native.

 _I need to get him to safety! Nothing else matters right now!_

This was the dominating thought in the would-be Hero's mind. Too many Heroes had already fallen to the man standing in his way and even if he was out of his league in a head-to-head fight, there was still a chance that he could escape with Native in-tow. From what he could tell, the wound that Stain had inflicted wasn't fatal and the Hero was still conscious judging by his terrified gaze and his shouts for Deku to run away. It seemed that the Hero Killer's Quirk, however it worked, served to paralyze his targets. That went a long way towards explaining how he was able to overcome so many Heroes.

As Deku had hoped, Stain leapt out of the way of his fireball and allowed him to streak past towards Native, but a thrown knife forced him to stop short.

"Yes, that is indeed the correct decision." Stain said approvingly as he drew a large combat knife, "Placing Native first is what you should do, but I shall not simply allow you to escape without a fight. This is a test, after all; I must ensure that you make the grade in capabilities as well as principles."

 _He's fast._

 _Yep._

 _Better armed._

 _Uh-huh._

 _More experienced._

 _For sure._

… _Feel free to contribute._

 _Blitz him. Hit him hard and fast and finish this before he gets a handle on your abilities._

 _I guess that's my only chance. Once he knows what I'm capable of, I doubt I'll be able to stand against him for long._

 _That and you happen to be standing in one of the few parts of this area that_ isn't _on fire. Ordinarily I'd recommend relocating, but…_

 _Right. That's not an option until I save Native._

"Alright, Stain," Deku began to walk steadily towards his self-proclaimed examiner, "but just remember: you asked for this. Smash!" Deku sharply cocked his fist back as he shouted, causing Stain's eyes to reflexively flick to it as he instead directed the force to one leg, leaping towards the Hero Killer.

"Too straightforward!" Stain ducked and brought his knife to bear, prepared to stab Deku in the gut using the momentum of his missed punch against him.

But the punch never came. Deku instead kicked off of a nearby wall, adjusting his course so he was outside of Stain's reach.

"Ignite!"

 ***BOOM***

It had been hasty and unfocused, taking more fuel than it needed to, to the tune of roughly twenty-five percent of One For All's maximum power, but for once this worked to Deku's advantage.

Namely, by sending Stain flying into a nearby brick wall with a crash and a grunt.

Knowing that this would likely be his best and only chance, the empowered Deku spat a fireball at the Hero Killer's face as he charged him, body low and knuckles nearly clipping the ground as he aimed for what he believed to be his opponent's most likely reaction.

How much? All of it? No, that would damage the nearby buildings. Might hurt bystanders. Might kill Stain. No time to think. Stain had instinctively ducked when he saw the fireball coming towards his face. His head was lowered, Deku's blazing fist streaking towards it. It was now or never!

"Fifteen Percent Nevada Smash!"

The mighty uppercut sent Stain skyward amidst a pillar of flame, but something was wrong. Deku had felt it in his fist: something about the impact had been off. This wasn't going to be enough!

 _Don't let up!_

"CHICAGO FIRE!"

The falling Hero Killer was bathed in the stream of flames that emanated from Deku's mouth, his descent slowed slightly by the force of the air, but by the time thirty percent's worth of fuel was expended, the aspiring Hero was forced to abandon his attack and leap to the side to avoid the counterattack that he was _convinced_ was coming.

 ***CLANG***

His decision was immediately vindicated as the sound of Stain's knife shattering against the concrete echoed through the alley.

"That was a good try. I think you may have cracked something." the singed Villain closed the gap, grinning widely as he hurled the broken knife at Deku whilst drawing a new one, "Unfortunately, your hesitation gave me time to react!"

 _He leaned into it!_

Deku's eyes widened as he realized what Stain had done. He had seen the attack coming and had lunged forward so that his chest had taken the brunt of the impact, with his jaw only being struck once he had already started moving upwards. The man's reaction speed was insane!

As he dodged the thrown knife and leapt back to give himself some breathing room, Deku frantically calculated how much fuel he had left.

 _Five, twenty-five, five, fifteen, thirty, plus five to ten for maintaining Flame Cowl…that's around ninety percent gone. My max is a hundred and ten, so I have less than thirty seconds left at full strength to land at least one more hit!_

Izuku stopped sharply and braced himself, seeing surprise pass briefly across Stain's face.

 _I know he took damage from those earlier attacks! They weren't wasted! If I can wear him down enough, then I might stand a chance! But I don't have enough time to adapt to his style, so I need to be ready to take a hit!_

 _Are you sure about this?_

 _It's alright! Remember what Endeavor and Shoto said about Enterprium: it's a really strong material, so he should have a hard time cutting through it with a regular knife!_

 _It's still gonna hurt._

 _I've had worse._

Deku seized the knife with his gloved left hand and delivered a right cross to Stain's face, crying out with a mixture of pain and adrenaline.

"BURN!"

The Hero Killer rolled a couple of times before regaining his feet and drawing his sword. Deku had considered making another attempt at grabbing Native, but deep down he knew that it would be the height of folly to turn his back on Stain. The man steadily approached him as he clenched his throbbing left hand into a fist.

"A well-made costume indeed, to allow for such a risky maneuver. I wouldn't recommend trying it again, however: this sword is a bit heavier than that knife."

 _Less than twenty seconds now. I can't waste any of them!_

In spite of this thought spurring him to act, Deku remained where he was, guard raised and prepared to react. He was momentarily confused by his own hesitation before he realized its source:

Stain didn't seem concerned.

At first, this had made a certain amount of sense. After all, he was facing a boy who wasn't even a fully-qualified Hero. If anything, Deku had counted on being underestimated to give him an opening, which it had.

However, even after having seen what he was capable of and with no possible knowledge of his limited fuel, the Hero Killer remained calm and collected as he almost lazily made his way into the striking range of his longer weapon. An onlooker might have found it to be an absurd sight which by all rights should have been reversed. After all, the Villain was clearly the more damaged of the two.

For the two combatants though, the situation was clear:

 _He's got me outclassed. Now that I've lost the element of surprise, he knows that he can handle whatever I throw at him._

 _And because of your fuel, using a big attack to overwhelm him isn't an option anymore. Common sense would say to use what little you've got left and make a break for it._

 _I can't do that while there's still someone who needs me._

That really only left him with one option. It was just like Endeavor had said: he had to seize the initiative. He needed to do everything in his power to take control of the situation away from the Villain before him and he wasn't going to do that by standing still and waiting.

Just before Stain would have come within slashing range, Deku sprang forward and attempted to tackle him. For all that the Hero Killer had displayed speed on-par with or exceeding his own, the fact that Deku had stopped his knife meant that his strength was at least comparable. If nothing else, his fire would burn the Villain and weaken him. He was past the range of the sword now-

"Naïve!"

"OOF!"

Stain's spiked, steel-toed boot slammed into Deku's torso and sent him crashing into a dumpster with a hollow clang, driving the air from his lungs and making him see stars. In the brief moment before he regained his senses, Deku was aware of his opponent approaching him rapidly with a grunt of exertion. There was a deep, twisting impact, a momentary feeling of strain, the sound of tearing-

"Ahh!"

-and a burning, searing pain as Stain's blade, assisted by the Villain's momentum and the way he had twisted it, ripped through the shoulder of his costume and cut into his trapezius. The sudden shock and the feeling of his fresh wound being burnt by his own fire was enough to cause Deku to reflexively deactivate Flame Cowl even as he lurched to the side, attempting to create some distance.

"It's too late for that. I've got you."

Then all strength left his body, causing Deku to collapse to the ground.

"It took more effort than it should have, thanks to that costume of yours, but all I needed was to create a situation where I could pierce it." a kick to the ribs rolled Deku over even as he gasped in pain from the toe spikes. Once Stain was satisfied that he could see him, he continued, "While you cannot yet hope to make much difference in the grand scheme of things, I believe that you have both potential and the correct mindset. Accept my praise, Deku."

"What did…you do…" he could still speak, but his mouth felt numb.

"I have paralyzed you, albeit temporarily." Stain lifted Deku by the throat and shifted him into a sitting position, slumped against the dumpster with a clear view of the still-paralyzed Native. This visual reminder of his failure caused the boy to grit his teeth.

"You made the correct decisions and committed to the correct actions, yet your hesitation has caused you to fail." the man looked at him with a sober expression for a moment before slowly beginning to walk towards the end of the alley which led to the street, "Fear not, however: failure is a necessary step on the path to success. Before one can succeed, they _must_ fail. As such, allow me to leave you with a parting gift of sorts, that you might become worthy."

As Stain drew level with Native, he knelt down, forcing the Hero to look at him.

"You will help him," he straightened, hand around the smaller man's neck as he lifted him into the air, "won't you, Native?"

The chipped sword was driven sharply upwards underneath Native's ribcage as Stain released him, emerging from higher up on his back as the Hero let out a wet gurgle before the bloody blade was withdrawn in a single, smooth motion, allowing the body to fall to the ground.

"NO!"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"No, this one's no good either. Drop him."

"Nonoplease- AAAAHHHHHH~"

Tomura Shigaraki sat on the edge of a tall building, legs dangling as he looked out on the carnage below him. It was nice, sure, but he would've much preferred being in the thick of it and racking up some extra experience points. Oh well, at least it was an easy mission as far as it went. There would be no reason for Stain not to join them properly after it was all over with. The added notoriety would definitely have people taking the League of Villains more seriously once the word got out, which would then draw more people into their ranks again, like it had been before all their mooks had been lost in the attack on USJ.

Plus, it'd help keep Himiko happy and occupied.

"Hey, Shiga!"

Speak of the devil.

"Go on, go find another one." he ordered the winged Nomu that had been patiently hovering in-place in front of him. It dove back down with a shriek.

"Shiga, guess what happened?"

"Since you're here, I'm guessing whatever it was happened to your Nomu, which was supposed to be the strongest one we brought with us." he sighed before turning around, "Seriously, what could've- who the hell is this?"

"I should be asking the same thing to the guy with a freakin' _hand_ on his face. What do they call you? 'Facepalm?'"

"What do they call _you_? 'Asshole?'"

"Depends who it is."

"Dabi, be nice. This is Shiga and if he tells me to kill you, I'll do it." Himiko chastised him cheerily before turning back to Tomura with a fanged grin, "Shiga, this is Dabi! He killed my Nomu, which made me kinda sad, but then he killed all the Heroes it was fighting! There wasn't really any blood, since he burned them all up, but I figured it wasn't fair for me to expect everyone to be perfect so I invited him for a sleepover!" she stopped to think for a moment, "Oh! And so I could prove that the Nomu dying wasn't my fault, because I don't want to get in trouble for that."

Tomura raised his eyebrows behind his hand-mask, honestly surprised.

"Did you really kill that Nomu by yourself?"

"Cooked him through to the bone." the man with more burn scars visible than skin gave him a cocky grin, "He took a bit more 'oomph' than I thought he would, but in the end, he wasn't anything special."

"See, Shiga? He's actually really strong! I'm sure he didn't know that the Nomu belonged to anyone, plus he killed all those Heroes, so you can forgive him for that, can't you?"

Dabi appeared taken aback by Himiko's defense of him. Or maybe it was just Himiko in general? Tomura could see how she'd have a tendency to do that to people.

"Well, it was pretty annoying how we weren't allowed to kill any Heroes as part of the quest requirements, but you're exempt from those, so that makes it a nice and tidy way to still grind some reputation. Sure, you can join the party, at least for now."

"Yay!" Himiko made to glomp him, apparently forgetting that he was on the edge of a building. Luckily he had seen it coming and was able to brace himself. Meanwhile Dabi looked as though he were weighing his options.

"…Looks like I'm surrounded by crazy people." he finally muttered to himself as he took a seat to watch the chaos with Tomura and Himiko, "I'm willing to see what you have to offer, but I'm not convinced I need you as much as you need me."

"We'll see."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Deku looked on in horror at the body of the Hero who had only moments before been alive. Stain took a moment to wipe his blade clean on Native's costume before sparing One For All's inheritor one final look.

"Remember this moment. Remember that he died because you could not save him and use that knowledge to fuel your growth. We will meet again and when we do, I shall-"

"Deku!"

A stream of fire lit the alleyway, catching Stain off-guard for a brief moment before he managed to escape it.

"No you…don't!"

Deku focused as hard as he could and dragged the torrent of flames back towards himself, catching Stain in the blaze a second time.

"Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall!"

A towering wall of ice expanded rapidly, dousing the flames, but judging from Celsius' exasperated "tch," it seemed that Stain had been able to escape its grasp.

"I'm not letting you get away that easily! Cold Snap!"

A blast of cold air told Deku that Celsius had most likely frozen over every nearby surface in an attempt to hinder the Hero Killer's movements. The singing of metal followed by the sound of crumbling ice told him that the Villain was still putting up a fight. If only he could turn his head to see!

 _It's going to happen again! Not even five minutes later and it's already going to happen again! Todoroki's weak against opponents that can close the cap in an instant!_

"I cannot be stopped by the likes of you!" Stain's voice echoed though the alley, "Only the worthy may be allowed to strike me down! Only those who have proven themselves as true Heroes have earned the right!"

The battle raged, unseen by Deku as he desperately tried to move until a shout followed by an exclamation of pain from Celsius coincided with him rolling back into Deku's line of sight, coughing and struggling to stand as his right hand began spreading ice across his chest.

"Celsius!" Deku shouted in desperation, making eye-contact with his fellow intern and trying to communicate what he needed him to do as Stain's boots cracked the iced-over concrete.

Whether it was because he understood or because his right hand was otherwise occupied, Deku would never know. The fact of the matter remained that Shoto lurched to the side, pinning his back to the wall opposite his ally and putting the Hero Killer between them as he launched another stream of fire. Stain avoided it easily, but the attack caused him to focus his attention on Celsius, which was exactly what Deku needed.

He drew in the flames, devouring them as fast as he could and desperately straining, trying to force his body to move before it was too late.

"IGNITE!"

 ***BOOM***

The blast wave from the explosion staggered the unsuspecting Hero Killer as Deku lurched forward, kicking off of the wall wildly and sending himself hurtling towards the man whom he was convinced was about to kill his friend.

"BUUURRRRNNNN!"

 ***KABOOM***

Izuku would later realize that, having focused so intently on his fist, he had drawn residual flames back into it, augmenting his punch with a small explosion similar in nature to Reflect Fire. The force of the explosion was less focused, but as the Villain who had taken it directly to the head and was now twirling through the air could attest, it was by no means ineffective.

"Celsius, are you okay?" Deku spared a glance to his friend.

"I'll be fine! Don't let him get away!"

Stain had regained his feet as quickly as ever, but in contrast to his earlier confidence was now eyeing the two would-be Heroes warily.

"Time to go." he murmured, seemingly to himself before hurling a volley of small knives at the two boys and dashing off around the corner while they were distracted. Deku dashed after him, but even with his movements being enhanced by Flame Cowl, he still only made it in time to see a familiar shrinking portal of black mist.

Just like that, Stain was gone. He had defeated Deku, killed Native in front of him and managed to get away in spite of Celsius showing up and Deku finding his second wind.

He hadn't been able to do anything.

He had been useless. Worse than useless, really, seeing as how Celsius had probably only found Stain because he had been looking for Deku, meaning that he had put his friend in danger as well.

"You should turn that off." Deku turned and blinked confusedly at Celsius, who had finished icing his ribs.

"Flame Cowl." he clarified, "You're only going to make your injury worse."

As the last of his adrenaline began to fade, Izuku realized that he really was in quite a bit of pain. He allowed the flames surrounding him to dissipate as he grabbed onto a nearby light post to steady himself.

"He's with _them_. The ones from USJ."

That was right. He needed to focus on what was immediately important.

"Are you sure?"

"The black mist. The same kind they used before? I saw some of it when I chased after him. He was gone."

"Sorry I couldn't make it sooner. It was hard enough finding you as it was after your communicator got trashed. That's what happened, right?"

"Yeah. I honestly wasn't even sure you got my message, since I couldn't hear any responses."

"Oh, we got it. The comms have been a non-stop flurry of activity right up until a few seconds ago when I finally had the chance to tell them I'd found you. Callidum nearly gave himself a coronary from the sound of it."

"What else is happening?" Deku asked as much to keep himself distracted as because of a genuine need to know.

"Two of the Nomu are dead. Endeavor took one out and an unknown flame-user completely immolated the other one before turning on the Heroes that had been fighting it. No word on who it might have been; the one who reported it was far away, else they probably would've been caught up in it too."

Deku's stomach sank. There were more dead Heroes? One wasn't enough?

"How many?"

"If you're asking about the Nomu, there were reports of one more flying around, though sightings of him have dropped off all of a sudden, so it's possible that the League has pulled out. It sounds like with reinforcements inbound and two of the Nomu dead, things were getting too hot for them."

"Or they got whatever they wanted." Deku muttered, appreciating what Celsius was trying to do, but needing to know the answer to his real question. He gave him an even stare before he sighed and kept talking.

"As for the Hero and civilian casualties, we aren't sure yet. The civilians would've had it worse, but after the initial surge of violence it seems like they were focused pretty squarely on the Heroes. The amount of property damage is really high, but it sounds like most of the civilians were able to get away unharmed. No deaths as far as we can tell, but who knows what we might find."

"As for the Heroes, there were a lot of them in the area thanks to what happened with Ingenium and Endeavor's publicity stunt. I don't think any of them got out of this uninjured and it sounds like at least fifteen are dead, though that number's sure to go up."

"You got all that from the comms while you were searching for me?"

"Passive listening. The old man made sure I learned it a long time ago. Although, I picked up on a lot of it while I was flipping through channels trying to find you. I had hoped that whatever had been done to your headset had simply knocked it out of whack or something. That's how I learned about the numbers."

"You can add one more dead Hero to that list. Native was killed."

"Are you sure that he's-"

"Stain ran him through with his sword! In one side and out the other right up through his chest cavity!" Deku shouted, "Yes, I'm fucking sure! It happened right in front of me and I couldn't do a goddamn thing to stop it!" he blinked hard and gritted his teeth as his eyes burned, refusing to break down. Not while he was still in the field. Not while he was still Deku.

Celsius looked at him and for a moment it seemed as though he was going to say something, but then he did something that surprised Deku more than nearly anything else he could have done.

He met his gaze, put a hand on his uninjured shoulder and gripped it briefly, lips pursed before letting his arm drop back to his side.

"The others will be here soon. Callidum would've already but he had to stop and help some people."

"Right."

"You're going to have to give a statement before the night's over."

"Right."

"Look, I'm not good at this sort of thing. Just try and keep it together for now, alright? It'll make everything go smoother and more quickly after that…" he trailed off, but Deku thought he understood. He swallowed the lump that had begun forming in his throat.

"…Right."

* * *

 **Well, I promised you all a different outcome than in canon and by god you got one. Izuku definitely gave Stain more than he bargained for, even inadvertently coming up with a new technique at the very end (which is in no way based on Backdraft from FFTA/A2 and I have no idea what you're talking about), but without the canon numbers advantage he was just outclassed. If Shoto had shown up before he was paralyzed, they may have been able to subdue Stain, but the chances of that are still fairly low given how it took a three-pronged attack by Izuku, Shoto and Tenya in canon to put him out of commission for even a short time.**

 **I believe this also marks the first time Izuku has seen someone die right in front of him, which you can bet will have an impact.**

 **If you like what I do here and want to see more, check out my Pat_reon page, Fires of Creation! The offerings for the $1 level alone include an ongoing audiobook adaptation of Torchbearer and access to a Patron-only Discord server as well as Patron-only omakes courtesy of The 0bservanc3! Higher levels gain access to even more goodies, including an ongoing light-novel style original story, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, the option to commission art or join a monthly gaming group and, for those special few, the ability to commission monthly writing pieces that can then be shared with all Patrons!  
**

 **You can easily find this page by googling "Fires of Creation Pat_reon" with the underscore removed.  
**

 **Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and everyone else who is already supporting me via Fires of Creation!**

 **Next time, those involved with the Hosu incident are debriefed and Izuku has to deal with his greatest failure to date. Additionally, a certain viral internet video continues to exist, albeit in a different form.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	61. Chapter 59: Gag Order

**Holiday update and other stuff in the post-chapter A/N, so make sure you take a look at that if you usually don't.**

 **Review time:**

 **The Keeper of Worlds, Batmarcus, The Incredible Muffin, DragonBall Shin, The 0bservanc3, Superf7n Guy : People liked the fight for the most part and as always that is a huge relief. A high level of tension and a showcase of Izuku's abilities that also serves to reaffirm how terrifying Stain is is exactly what I was going for. It's worth noting that Izuku did manage to damage Stain a fair bit, he's just tough as nails and doesn't let himself show it.  
**

 **MasterBlade47, joshiiman02, ProjectIceman, Corruption of Saints, uchihaNaruto247, SentinalSlice, The Keeper of Worlds, Batmarcus, D3lph0xL0v3r, Constipated Genius, Dragon Man 180, tacktician, The Incredible Muffin, Ooobserver, The 0bservanc3, Superf7n Guy : Unsurprisingly, the death of Native and the crux of not only Izuku's first time seeing someone die in front of him but his first real failure was what got the most people talking. I was always going to sock it to the kid eventually and nearly sixty chapters of things going more or less well for him seemed like as good a time as any.  
**

 **I didn't originally plan for Native to die but when the scene was playing out in front of me, I knew that, unless someone prevented him from doing so, Stain would absolutely kill him to make a point. Hell, killing Heroes to make a point is kind of his whole deal. Izuku will absolutely be heavily impacted by this going forward and, true to form, this loss will end up making him stronger in the end. Not before he deals with some pretty heavy stuff, but it will. Good thing he's got people who care about him, eh?**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r : Things regarding Spinner should become clearer after the next chapter or two. Needless to say he will still be involved.**

 **Reverseflash : Quite a few characters have been tweaked, absolutely. I can totally see how some of what they've done could be seen as OOC compared to their canon counterparts. It's worth noting that Endeavor doesn't just see Izuku as a "random scrub" and has actually been keeping tabs on him since the Sludge Villain incident. He wouldn't ordinarily have revealed so much, but Izuku kind of caught him at the perfect time. As for Shigaraki, yeah, I made him more than a psychopathic manchild. He's definitely still unhinged but I find it hard to believe that AFO wouldn't have taken a few steps to make sure that his chosen successor was at least able to _function_ when he had to. That's a part of canon I wholeheartedly disagree with and I'm not sorry I changed it. Plus, well, there are other reasons my AFO had for doing things differently but that'd be spoilers.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : I'm honestly not sure if regular people are at such a higher level or if Stain's just freaky like that. I think his Quirk might have given him a little something-something in addition to the fact that he trained his brains out to get where he is. After all, his isn't the only Quirk that allegedly does one thing but has a few interesting side-effects, like Eijiro's Hardness also making him stronger, for instance. We've seen that Quirks are able to evolve and grow, so maybe his speed is a side-effect of whatever Stain did? It would certainly go a long way towards explaining certain things without just making everyone superhuman in MHA's timeline.**

 **Superf7n Guy : In a lot of ways, you've hit the nail on the head. Izuku's two most recent fights, namely Endeavor and Stain, were designed as counterpoints to all the hype I've been giving him up until now and to show that, while he is certainly getting more powerful, he's still nowhere near top-tier. The only reason that canon didn't go exactly like this is because 1) Iida was there too and 2) Shoto showed up sooner. Stain became flustered at being outnumbered three-to-one and got sloppy which, combined with the trio's excellent teamwork, led to his defeat. In short, your statement about the scale rising above Izuku's current level is spot-on.**

 **You're totally correct that Flame Cowl is less reliable than Full Cowl and this is 100% on purpose. I want Torchbearer! Izuku to be arguably weaker than canon Izuku because I'm of the opinion that canon Izuku is getting too powerful too quickly and is able to do things he shouldn't be able to do just by virtue of being a main character. When my Izuku accomplishes something or manages to win against a powerful opponent, I want my readers to know _exactly_ what that means and not just expect that "of course he'll win, he's the protagonist." Sorry this went on for a bit, I just wanted to make sure I was explaining myself properly and it's a point I feel strongly about.**

 **Stormgorge : Great to hear you're liking it so far! The attack is a Fighter ability called Backdraft that deals explosive fire damage in exchange for dealing damage to the user unless they are immune to or absorb fire damage.**

 **ILiekFishes, Gokuu the Carrot , Sentinel07 and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Everyone put your somber hats on. It's time to be somber.**

* * *

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Gag Order

Izuku Midoriya hurt. A simple observation and really one that anyone who glanced at his current state could have easily deduced, but even so it was the best his current ability to self-analyze could produce.

His body hurt. He had been treated less than an hour ago whereupon the physician had informed him that in addition to the nasty cut on his trapezius which, thankfully, had not required stitches, he had three broken ribs from where Stain had kicked him, fractured metacarpals in his left hand from where he had caught the knife and a collection of miscellaneous scrapes and bruises that were otherwise unremarkable. His costume had done quite a good job at preventing any puncture or cut wounds apart from the one on his trapezius, which he was certainly grateful for, though the gash from Stain's blade would most likely scar due to the exposure to Flame Cowl.

His mind hurt. He had just finished reliving the night's events in excruciating detail for the beagle-headed man wearing a suit whom he had learned was Kenji Tsuragamae, the Chief of the Police Force. He had known that he would be required to submit to a debriefing of some sort, especially given the nature of the night's events and he had even gone over the main points with Endeavor while en-route to the medical center, but it was still a tiresome process, particularly given his overall condition. This was only exacerbated by the last and, if Izuku was being honest with himself, most painful point.

His heart hurt. He had, in the most non-negotiable way possible, failed someone who had needed him. Whether the fact that Native had been a Hero as opposed to a civilian made it worse might have been a matter of debate for a more experienced Hero like Endeavor or even Manual, but Izuku wasn't thinking of it that way. He had let someone die in front of them when he was supposed to have saved them. That was the fact of the matter.

He had seen the moment when Stain had hoisted him up by his neck.

He had seen the terrible moment when both he and Native had known what was about to happen and were equally powerless to stop it.

He had seen the moment when the sword had pierced the Hero all the way through, when what would have ordinarily produced a violent flurry of motion garnered barely a twitch due to Stain's bizarre ability to paralyze his victims.

He had seen the body slump to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Limbs splayed out at disturbing and unnatural angles, causing Native to look like an oversized action figure that had fallen off its shelf.

And he had relived the event in its entirety for Chief Tsuragamae. It had been important that he do so. Vital, even, as he was the second one who had been hit by the Hero Killer's Quirk, assuming that was what the paralysis was, and lived to tell about it, the first having been Iai, one of Ingenium's Sidekicks who had fought Stain. The only reason the information had not been more thoroughly disseminated was because Iai had admitted once he had received treatment for his missing arm that the adrenaline and subsequently going into shock from the loss of said arm had blurred his memories somewhat. All he had remembered was that Stain had cut him and then he had been unable to move, which could have suggested poison or drugs as much as anything else.

In other words, don't let the psycho with all the blades cut you. Good advice to be sure, but nothing that exceeded the bounds of common sense.

Deku's account, however, left far less in terms of guesswork. They now had a reasonable idea of how Stain's Quirk functioned, if not what other intricacies might be involved with it. For instance, Deku had been paralyzed for significantly less time than Native before he had regained the ability to move, which suggested that there was some factor that determined how long the paralysis lasted on a given target.

Desperate to have something to do with his mind besides letting it wander, Izuku had suggested that, since having one's blood ingested seemed to activate the Quirk, perhaps one's blood type had something to do with it. Chief Tsuragamae had looked thoughtful and made a note of Izuku's blood type, O, stating that he would make looking into Native and Iai's blood types a priority.

Once Deku was finished giving his account, it was Celsius' turn. Ordinarily, they would have been debriefed separately by different officers, but as they were both Endeavors interns and, thus, under his supervision, they and the Flame Hero were questioned together.

As Shoto spoke, with nothing else to do, Izuku found himself recalling the brief moments he had seen Iida before he and Manual had been escorted to a different room for their own debriefing. His earnest classmate had been beside himself with worry upon seeing the Class Vice-President's injuries until he had been assured that, by and large, the bandages made them look worse than they were. Neither Deku nor Celsius had had enough time to fill him in on what had happened to them before he was led away by Manual with the promise that he would be able to talk more with them soon.

"Very well then, woof." Chief Tsuragamae's voice jolted Izuku out of his reverie, whereupon he realized that the beagle-headed man was no longer looking at Shoto, but at Endeavor. Izuku had apparently been so engrossed in his own thoughts that he had failed to notice most of Shoto's interview and the entirety of Endeavor's.

"S-sorry." he said reflexively, causing the Chief's eyes to soften slightly.

"Young man, you have nothing to be sorry for, woof. Either of you." he added, glancing at Shoto as he did so, "The two of you have done far more than anyone would have expected. Your actions tonight in causing Stain to retreat have undoubtedly saved lives."

"But not as many as we would have if we'd caught him." Shoto said, taking the words right out of Izuku's mouth.

The Chief of the Police Force was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"Do you know why I decided to debrief you boys in person instead of having one of my officers do it like I usually would, arf?"

"The Hero Killer is an ongoing, high-profile case." Izuku said automatically, having considered this very question upon learning the man's identity, "There's a lot of pressure to make whatever progress you can and the two of us had direct contact with him, so you determined it would be best to take our statements yourself instead of risking that one of your officers could miss something or that they wouldn't pick up on a particular scent. Er, if you'll excuse the analogy." he finished sheepishly.

"It's a well-documented fact that the reliability of eyewitness accounts deteriorates rapidly. Sometimes within mere hours of the event they can start remembering things differently. Therefore, it is vital to get as much information as possible as soon as possible and press any pertinent points during the initial interview." Shoto supplied, "You would have looked through the record of our debriefing, or listened to it," he gestured at the recorder that the Chief had turned on before beginning his questioning, "and you might have realized that the officer failed to pursue a certain line of questioning. You could have called us in for a follow-up statement, but odds are it wouldn't have been completely accurate. 'If you want something done right, do it yourself' in other words."

"Well-reasoned and certainly not wrong." the Chief nodded, "However, there was a much simpler reason as well, woof." he then surprised both of them by bowing. He held this position for several seconds before straightening up again, "I wanted to thank you. Neither of you were obligated to do what you did tonight. Nobody would have blamed you if you had seen the Hero Killer and decided to run and fetch someone else. Some people might even say that the responsible thing to do would be for me to chastise the both of you for getting yourselves in over your heads, unlicensed as you are, woof."

"However, you were given explicit orders to use your Quirks to the fullest and to do everything in your power to help. In doing so, not only were you reportedly successful in aiding others prior to engaging with Stain, but you forced him to retreat after claiming only a single victim out of who knows how many. Be proud of that. I know that both of you will grow stronger from this and I hope to work alongside the both of you when, not if, you both become Pro Heroes, woof."

Chief Tsuragamae took a moment to clear his throat before crossing his arms behind his back and becoming fully professional again.

"Now then, I trust you are both aware that what we have discussed here tonight is to remain confidential until the Police Force has made our official statement on the matter, arf? Endeavor can explain more about how that usually works, but for the time being please refrain from discussing these events with anyone who was not directly involved. You shouldn't have to wait long since this was such a…public incident, woof. A copy of the recordings I have made of each of you can be requested by the individual in question for any reason. Have a good evening, gentlemen. What little remains of it anyhow, woof."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

They left Hosu shortly thereafter. Izuku, while he was free to leave, was in no condition to return to the field and there was precious little that could be done at that point anyway, what with the initial wave of casualties mostly dealt with. It would be support and disaster Heroes such as Thirteen, Cementoss and Manual who would be needed most, not a trio of injured fire users in an area already burnt.

It had surprised Izuku to learn that Endeavor had been wounded himself, though the doctor had assured him that an ice pack and some anti-inflammatories would probably be all he needed, since he had relocated his shoulder before it had the chance to get any worse. If it hadn't been for the fact that his fatigued mind was otherwise occupied, he would probably have been more shocked. As it was, he had scarcely noticed the helicopter touching down onto the roof of Endeavor's agency.

"I'm staying here tonight."

Shoto's declaration as they rode the elevator down to the ground floor brought Izuku sharply back to his senses.

"What?"

"I concur; what are you talking about, Shoto?"

At least Endeavor not knowing what was going on either meant that Izuku hadn't missed something while he was lost in his own thoughts again.

 ***Ding***

The two-toned boy stepped out of the elevator first and turned around, his gaze unwavering.

"I'm staying here tonight. I need to… _do_ something and the house isn't made for what I've got in mind."

Izuku expected Endeavor to protest, to say something like "There will be time for you to train tomorrow, Shoto." Shoto evidently did too, from the way he was staring at his father. Instead, the Flame Hero met his son's gaze for around half a minute before responding.

"I understand your desire, Shoto, but even so I am loathe to leave you to your own devices unsupervised, particularly given the situation."

"Oh, well. I guess it's gonna be a late night for me then, huh Boss?"

Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin in spite of his tiredness as he noticed Saotome with her elbow propped up on the front desk, chin resting in the palm of her hand and a wry smile on her face, dark eyes surveying them meaningfully.

 _She must already know._

"You will watch him, Saotome?"

"Hell, if I get the opportunity, I'll _help_ him."

"Alright." Endeavor nodded, "Let me know if you require vacation hours or anything of that nature."

"Do I ever?"

"I am legally required to make them available, whether you use them or not."

"Uh huh."

Izuku, not knowing what else to do, gave an apologetic bow to the Sidekick as he followed Endeavor out the door, causing her to wave him away good-naturedly. With that, they set off for the Todoroki household.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Katsuki Bakugo, soon to be known far and wide as the Baku Don, was burning the midnight oil as he helped Best Jeanist with re-designing his costume. He hadn't objected when his host Hero told him that he would be working the late shift that day to get a feel for the differences in how an agency operated when it wasn't fully-staffed. If this also gave them some extra time to work on the costume, well that was just a bonus, wasn't it?

The process was moving along at a decent clip and, in Katsuki's ever-so-humble opinion, his new costume was looking damn good. It wasn't completely how he had originally envisioned it, but Jeanist had put his experience and flair on display and the blond bomber had found himself hard-pressed to argue. As the whole thing started to come together, he even found himself admitting that it was all probably for the best. The cigar and fedora might have been just a bit overkill, plus he hadn't considered what he would need to do to his hair just to make the hat stay in place.

There was a science to the hair. The type of science that went "boom." Mainly though, it was the science of genetics which had endowed him with his mother's chronically-unmanageable ashen spikes.

The open-plan Genius Office was nearly empty apart from Jeanist and himself. In fact, he was pretty sure that the only employees were on the lower floor, leaving the two of them on the elevated stage that held the Hero's desk. The rest of the second floor was dimly lit by the city lights outside and the screensaver on a workstation that someone had forgotten to turn off.

It wasn't bad. It was a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of the city in the daytime, provided no Villains decided to start causing trouble, of course. Katsuki even found himself momentarily pausing just to look out the floor-to-ceiling window and take it all in until Jeanist's phone let out an annoying sequence of beeps while at the same time an alert appeared on his computer screen.

"Ah, this is the notification system I told you about before, Bakugo. The fact that this came straight to me is a bit unusual though…hmm, looks like it's from the Police Force. Urgent bulletin…" he trailed off as he started to read whatever it was. Katsuki, understandably curious, walked around to read over his shoulder.

 **Urgent bulletin from the Police Force for all Pro Heroes in the greater Kanto region dated May 21** **st** **, 2222.**

 **Hosu was the site of a large-scale Villain attack from approximately 21:35 to 22:57. The perpetrators were the Hero Killer Stain and between three and six other assailants who may have been part of the organization known as the League of Villains, which was responsible for the attack on the Unforeseen Simulation Joint (USJ), which occurred roughly six weeks prior on April 10** **th** **, 2222.**

 **More information will be forthcoming alongside the Police Force's official statement, which is to be issued tomorrow, but given the multi-jurisdictional nature of the threat posed by the Hero Killer, this preliminary bulletin has been issued to inform any Heroes who may potentially engage with him before then.**

 **We have reason to believe, thanks to eyewitness statements from those in the field who engaged the Hero Killer earlier this evening, that his Quirk inflicts temporary full-body paralysis by means of ingesting the victim's blood. There is further speculation that the victim's blood type may influence how long the paralysis lasts. Chief of the Police Force, Kenji Tsuragamae, is currently investigating the matter and will issue a follow-up statement once this has been confirmed or debunked.**

 **This information was provided by Endeavor and his interns.**

"Damn, the Hero Killer again." Best Jeanist put a finger to his temple, "And now they're saying that he might be in-league with the same Villains that attacked U.A.? You have personal experience with them, don't you Bakugo? What do you think?"

Katsuki did not respond due to his brain taking a moment to process the last line of the statement.

"Hang on, 'information provided by Endeavor and his interns?' What the _fuck_?!" he began rummaging around in his pockets for his phone, swearing up a storm as a thoroughly-bemused Jeanist watched, "Motherfucker isn't even gone for three whole _days_ and shit like this-" he waited impatiently as the phone rang, not even waiting for Deku to say "hello" before he lit into him.

"The fucking _Hero Killer_ , Deku, are you fucking _serious?!_ If you tell me you got your ass maimed or something, I swear to fucking god, I'll finish the job myself!"

" _Uh, hi, Kacchan."_ Deku sounded sufficiently cowed as he responded, _"I'm…alright."_

The tone of his voice and the meaningful pause were not lost on Katsuki.

"What did you do?" the shock that ran through his system caused his voice to become unnaturally flat, "An arm? A leg?"

" _No! No, nothing like that. I got off pretty easy, all things considered."_

"So _tell_ me what _happened_ , god damnit!"

" _I can't, Kacchan."_

"What do you mean you can't?!"

"Bakugo, if I may?" Best Jeanist cut in, holding out a hand, "I have an idea as to what may be going on here."

A big part of Katsuki wanted to tell the Hero to shove it and keep interrogating Deku until he told him what he wanted to know, what he _needed_ to know, but the serious look in the Number Four Hero's eyes made him hand over the phone.

"Hello, this is Jeanist." a pause, "Yes, Best Jeanist."

Katsuki heard the expected burst of stammering speech and relished the momentary look of surprise on Jeanist's face before he cleared his throat and politely cut Deku off.

"I am flattered, truly, however I'm afraid I had Bakugo hand me the phone for business reasons. Are you near Endeavor, by any chance?" another pause, "Could I speak with him?" a pause followed by the indistinct sound of a gruff voice.

"Hello, Endeavor. The Police Force just sent out an urgent bulletin about the attack on Hosu tonight and apparently my intern knows yours. I figured I'd take the opportunity to find out if there's anything you're allowed to disclose?" he waited for a surprisingly brief moment before speaking again, "I see. That makes sense. Are you uninjured?" a pause that was barely a pause at all, "Of course." another pause, whereupon Best Jeanist looked at Katsuki for a moment before nodding, "I will. Goodbye."

He ended the call and gave Katsuki's phone back.

"Why'd you-" Jeanist held up a finger, halting Katsuki's complaint.

"They've been gagged. Fairly standard for a situation as tense as this, really."

"Oh." was all Katsuki could say for a moment. It really did make sense now that he thought about it, "Why didn't the idiot just _say_ so then?! Letting me sit here and wonder if something happened to him…"

"I don't know any more than you do, but if I had to guess, I'd say he's not in peak condition right now. To that end, I have a suggestion for you."

"I'm listening."

"Leave him alone for tonight. Maybe send him a text suggesting that he inform those he is close to that, whatever they might hear, he is alright. The gag order doesn't prevent him from doing that much and it will prevent anyone else from experiencing undue distress as you did."

"I guess this is something Heroes have to deal with pretty often, huh?"

"Unfortunately so."

"…Alright. I'll do that in a bit."

"Shall we get back to your costume?"

"Yeah. Let's do that."

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

All Might: Hey, I know this is kind of late to be sending everyone a message. Sorry in advance if this wakes anyone up, but pretty soon you all will probably hear some news that might make you wonder something and I just wanted to make sure you all know that I'm okay. Todoroki-san is too. I know that this probably doesn't make any sense and you probably have questions, but I can't answer them right now.

All Might: Sorry. I just saw how that looks and I probably made you guys worry while trying to make it so you didn't worry.

Glasses: It is quite alright, Midoriya-san. You posted your message just as I was preparing my own, actually. Everyone, allow me to clarify by stating that I too was part of the event in-question and am also alright. We are under a gag order from the Police Force, which is why we are unable to discuss it until the official statement is made. Thank you for your understanding.

Grenade: I found out b/c I was there when BJ got the memo. He says the statement should b coming out sometime 2day.

Octopus: Thank you for the consideration, Midoriya-san and Iida-san. Whatever the situation may be, it is good to at least know that you are well.

Star: I appreciate it too, though I can't help feeling a little worried.

Potato: it's all good deku & callidum r tough. how are all ur internships going tho? tetsutetsu ended up at mine and 4th kind is cool.

Star: Yeah, you're right. If they say they're fine then we should trust them. Gunhead is super nice, actually! I'm learning some good stuff.

Grenade: I'm gonna be kicking ass in style just u wait and see!

Izuku awoke to find that his post in the group chat had gained some responses while he had slept surprisingly soundly all things considered. He chalked it up to fatigue and wondered if the coming night would go as smoothly.

 _Kirishima did his best to change the subject, but I still feel bad about making the others worry._

 _It's not as bad as it'd be if they found out like Katsuki did. Besides, the one you really feel guilty about is Ochako._

 _It's just…it's worse for her, you know? What happened at USJ…I don't think she'll ever be able to forget it completely. I know I wouldn't be able to if I'd been in her place._

 _Of all the people you'd need to explain that to,_ I'm _not one of 'em._

 _I know. It's just…_

 _You wanna talk to someone, but the ones you really wanna talk to you can't say a word to and besides all that you'd rather do it in-person._

… _Yeah. That._

 _Call your mom._

 _Huh?_

 _Call. Your. Mom. She knows you're interning with Endeavor and she's as bad as you are when it comes to worrying. Worse, even._

That was a good point, actually. Izuku picked up his phone and proceeded to do exactly that.

Now that he was on the subject, maybe he should call All Might too?

Who knew? Maybe if he told enough people that he was alright, he'd actually start to believe it.

* * *

 **First and foremost, I'm taking something of a December break. Whether this means I'll be missing one post or two remains to be seen, but it will at least be one. This is primarily due to the high concentration of family events, some of which involve traveling.**

 **Interested in what Shoto is getting up to back at the agency under Saotome's watchful eye? You'll have to check out my Pat_reon page, Fires of Creation, where I will be posting it as one of my patron-exclusive omakes, which are generously sponsored by The 0bservanc3! $1 a month is all it takes to get access to these omakes, monthly chapters of my ongoing original work, monthly chapters of the Torchbearer audiobook adaptation and more!**

 **The December break also applies to the Pat_reon, naturally, so if anyone wants to wait until January to sign up, that's a perfectly logical decision. Make sure you're either age 18+ or have a parent's permission. I don't post adult-only content over there, it's just part of Pat_reon's terms of service and I don't want anyone getting in trouble.**

 **Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and all of my other patrons who are already supporting me in this way.**

 **Speaking of Saotome, I'm interested to see if anyone can guess her Quirk. It's actually been on display in every scene she's been in and I'm wondering if anyone noticed.**

 **Next time, the news about the Hosu Incident breaks and a certain video goes viral. Will any of this help Izuku's emotional state? Probably not.**

 **If this chapter doesn't get posted before Christmas, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

 **And as always, thank you for reading.**


	62. Chapter 60: Carry On

**We are back and with another milestone of a chapter. It's hard to believe that it's been sixty chapters since I began this. I do have an announcement regarding the schedule of these posts in the post-chapter A/N, which also explains why this one missed what would have ordinarily been its date, so have a look at that if you're curious.**

 **Review time:**

 **uchihaNaruto247, Batmarcus, D3lph0xL0v3r, Constipated Genius, Dragon Man 180, The Incredible Muffin, Ooobserver, The 0bservanc3 : Izuku definitely needs some help putting everything in perspective. Fortunately, as a few of you have said, he has a pretty good support network in terms of friends, loved ones, mentors, teachers, etc. He'll be alright...after a fashion.  
**

 **Constipated Genius, The Incredible Muffin, Ooobserver : I'm glad people liked how I handled the debriefing with Chief Tsuragamae. Endeavor made sure everything was done by the book and had no qualms about vouching for the legality of his intern's actions, which only left room for praise. I always got the impression that the Chief really didn't like having to reprimand the boys in canon but, being the face of the law, he had to make sure it was upheld. Canon! Izuku did the right thing, absolutely, but he was explicitly told to stay put, meaning his actions were tantamount to Vigilantism. Same goes for Shoto and Tenya, unfortunately.  
**

 **D3lph0xL0v3r** **: It's funny that you mention Spinner...**

 **Tzekel Khan : You know, I've been trying to follow the meaningful naming trend for most of my other OC's so far, but Saotome I deliberately didn't (unless it's a coincidence, since I didn't look up if her name means anything). That might give you a hint depending on how you notice things.**

 **Renegade Remade ( formerly Superf7n Guy): Izuku will indeed be getting better at using Flame Cowl in the future. That's really been the whole theme behind it, since I don't want to take the route that canon has and just give him more powers. It should be about mastery of the powers he has, in my opinion. I won't say what precisely I have planned apart from steadily increasing his fuel reserves, but I will say we've seen a proto version of one technique already when he was working on Flame Cowl (Complete).**

 **As for utility, you are quite right that he needs some focus on that and now that he's gotten more efficient with his Quirk, it might be about time. In terms of cost, Flame Cowl uses one percent fuel per one percent power output every six seconds, so yes, higher output is more expensive. This need not apply to the ignition, he just hasn't gotten that good at controlling that part yet. Five percent (for a two-and-a-half times boost) is his low point, since that's the base enhancement he gets from regular smashes.**

 **Regarding Katsuki, his Quirk description specifically says "from the palms of his hands," so I'm guessing feet are a no-go. He likes his boots too much anyway.**

 **Constipated Genius : Interesting guesses for Saotome's Quirk, but unfortunately not correct. When it comes to her, it's really all about what you notice.**

 **Alex Focker : Regarding Izuku's sanity, saying anything one way or the other is potential spoilers for anyone who hasn't entirely figured it out yet. If he is in fact insane, it's probably not Schizophrenia since multiple personalities is not a symptom of that. Either way, I think we can all agree that he's a little kooky at the very least but, then again, who in this cast isn't? Apart from Mezo.**

 **The 0bservanc3 : We can all agree that Stain is faster than he has any right to be, even in canon. He probably has a bit of extra strength too, given how he's able to cleave through solid hunks of ice like he does. Or maybe he's just a badass like Aizawa is? Hard to say. As far as Stain goes, we'll start to see the beginnings of those changes in this chapter.**

 **Katsuki did not change his hair. He meant that there's a science to how it is normally and a hat would force him to change that, so he decided to forego the hat. 2222 was mostly chosen arbitrarily. I wanted to give enough time that multiple generations of Quirk users would have had time to exist and some of this crazier technology was feasible, but the actual year was just for funzies.**

 **ocomhdhain1 : As far as I am aware, nobody has made the canon MHA characters react to Torchbearer yet. I have a standing offer that they are free to do so, however, as long as they credit me for the Torchbearer versions and notify me so I can read it, because that'd be fun.**

 **tacktician, The Keeper of Worlds, Brightwizard21, NazgulBelserion, Noxlux013, An awfully bored chap, Narukami97, Z-ro, Guest, Slayer of The Abyss : Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!  
**

 **Now, rumor has it there's a certain video that's been making the rounds on the internet lately...**

* * *

Chapter Sixty: Carry On

Hello to all of my viewers. Apologies if this video is of lower quality than you have come to expect from me, but current circumstances surrounding this event have necessitated that I take certain steps to avoid the mass takedown that the government is orchestrating. Until this all blows over, I will not be able to post this in any of my usual locations or I risk my accounts being banned. As such, I shall be live streaming this recording at thirty-seven-minute intervals with the timer beginning immediately after the previous stream has ended. The footage has also been reversed with the outer edges cropped out and the audio pitched down slightly.

Those of you who have taken the time to find this stream likely already know that I am referring to the recent incident that occurred in ***u City on the evening of May twenty-first wherein the League of Villains and the Hero Killer wreaked havoc on civilians and Heroes alike, all taking place within a mere twenty-two minutes.

As I'm sure you know, public footage of the Hero Killer has been more or less nonexistent...until now. That's right: one brave, anonymous soul happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right Quirk to allow them to take a video recording of the Hero Killer clashing with two young Heroes. Without further ado, let's get to the footage. Be warned, this may be too graphic for some.

 _A shaking image of the street with the sound of hurried footsteps and breathless speech appeared as whoever was taking the video rushed towards an alley. The sounds of shouting and screaming filled the air._

 _"I just saw...just saw a pillar of fire come from over there! And, and there was a guy inside of it! Flying up into the air!"_

 _The video suddenly veered off to the side as the holder of the camera ran to a nearby wall and leapt at it, impacting with a slight "oof" before beginning to climb apparently one-handed, grunting with the effort._

 _"It's obviously...some sort of fight...so I need to make sure I don't get caught up in that. Hang on, I can hear voices! Is the camera picking this up? Damn! Need to get closer..."_

 _"BURN!"_

 _ ***POW***_

 _"Whoa! Someone just ate shit! Hang on, I'm almost to the edge!"_

 _The camera's field of view was suddenly clear of brick and was looking down into the alleyway. Near the entrance there was a man dressed like a Native American slumped against a wall while a man in a full-body blue costume with glowing orange lines that mirrored the flames that covered him faced off against a taller man with a blood-red scarf and holding a sword who was approaching him steadily. The flaming one charged the taller man suddenly, only to be kicked forcefully into a wall._

 _"Naive!"_

 _"OOF!"_

 _The Hero Killer immediately capitalized on his opening, driving his sword into the smaller man and creating a tear in his costume, slicing into the shoulder beneath and eliciting a cry of pain, the flames dissipating as the smaller man tried to escape._

 _"It...for that...you."_

 _The noise of the surrounding chaos was too loud to hear all of what Stain said as he licked his sword and the other man collapsed, his strength seeming to have left him, though his exclamation of pain as a swift kick to the ribs flipped him onto his back was audible enough. Whether due to nerves of steel or simply because he was enthralled by the sight, the bearer of the camera shifted to the roof of the building in an effort to get closer still. As he did, the Hero Killer's voice became clearer._

 _"While...hope to...difference in...of things, I believe that you have both potential and the correct mindset. Accept my praise, Deku."_

 _A weak response from the incapacitated Deku and Stain's subsequent response were muffled as the Villain knelt and shifted him into a sitting position, leaning him against a dumpster._

 _"You made the correct decisions and committed to the correct actions, yet your hesitation has caused you to fail. Fear not, however: failure is a necessary step on the path to success. Before one can succeed, they_ must _fail. As such, allow me to leave you with a parting gift of sorts, that you might become worthy."_

 _What the Hero Killer said to Native as he lifted him up was inaudible, but the moment he impaled the Hero with his sword was clearly visible._

 _"NO!"_

 _An eerie silence fell over the alley. The noise from the surrounding chaos seemed to have been dulled somehow. Stain spoke to Deku again, but he was too far away and speaking too softly for the camera to pick it up._

 _"Deku!"_

 _"Oh, shit!"_

 _The scene suddenly shifted to the sky as a burst of fire filled the alley and impacted the wall beneath the holder, causing some of it to shoot upwards._

 _"Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall!"_

 _As the camera's holder sat up, a mass of ice came into view. The person recording the video scrambled to get back into position as the new voice rang out again._

 _"I'm not letting you get away that easily! Cold Snap!"_

 _"Cold! Cold! Cold!"_

 _A thin layer of frost accumulated on the camera's lens from the sudden blast of frigid air. The watcher hurriedly cleaned it off as sounds of combat emanated from the unseen alley. He refocused the camera just in time to see Stain knock the new Hero away and point his sword at him, foot planted on a platform of ice that he had clearly sliced the top off of._

 _"I cannot be stopped by the likes of you! Only the worthy may be allowed to strike me down! Only those who have proven themselves as true Heroes have earned the right!"_

 _The camera was jerked away again as combat began anew and the man recording the footage clearly didn't wish to risk himself again. Eventually the violence died down and he felt comfortable peeking over the edge again._

 _"Celsius!" Deku shouted at the newcomer, who sent a wave of flames at Stain, which he avoided, but the flames were then consumed by Deku._

 _"IGNITE!"_

 _ ***BOO-ck-fzzzt***_

 _The video went dead as an explosion filled the frame and the shockwave seemingly damaged the camera._

From what the video shows, the outcome of this battle with the Hero Killer is unclear. However, the public statement released by the Police Force reveals that he is still at large and may in fact be working together with the League of Villains, the same group who was responsible for-

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

"Damn, they got him already. They're really double-timing getting these things taken down." Dabi griped as he refreshed the page in a futile attempt to get the stream going again.

"It's bad publicity." Tomura swirled his Cuba Libre, thoughtfully watching a few bits of lime move around as he composed his thoughts. He was a few celebratory drinks deep and didn't want to flub his skill check by slurring his words, "It's one thing for people to know that Stain's still out there, but it's another thing to have actual video footage of him killing a Hero and kicking the crap out of two wannabes. Speaking of that, actually," he took a sip while he gestured to the man of the hour, who was sitting at the bar and had, after some convincing, agreed to let Kurogiri pour him another beer, "you're sure you don't have any idea who might've taken that video? I mean, I get that sometimes natural twenties just _happen_ , but he was practically on top of you."

"No, I don't." Stain glared at his drink before taking a hearty gulp, "I thought I might have heard something towards the end of the recording, but I was preoccupied with securing my escape at that point and I couldn't feel any bloodlust, so I ignored it."

"I don't really get why you're letting it bother you so much." Himiko said from the center of the room, as she had gotten up to stretch her legs a bit, "From what we've heard, the video is really making the rounds, so now everyone gets to see how awesome you are!"

The day after their mission had been spent resting and recovering, though nobody was too banged up apart from Stain. The release of the Police Force's official statement had gone more or less as everyone had expected with them trying to downplay how thoroughly the League had handed them their asses. Instead, they focused on the facts and the information that they had available to them, including hinting that they had figured out what the Hero Killer's Quirk was thanks to the commendable efforts of Endeavor's agency.

Dabi, who had decided to stick around and take advantage of the room and board for the time being, had not taken kindly to that last bit at all. It quickly became apparent that he hated Endeavor's guts for some reason or another, which suited Tomura just fine. He was the Number Two Hero after all, which meant he was almost as much of a pain in the ass as All Might. Or rather, as All Might _had_ been. The recent decrease in All Might's deeds following their attack on USJ had made it obvious that the Symbol of Peace had decided to turtle up as it were and prioritize his position at U.A. above all else, which Tomura honestly didn't mind.

True, this made his goal of seeing the man dead a bit more difficult to achieve, but it wasn't as though he was in any position to make another attempt anyway. Things might have been different if they had managed to do more damage with the USJ attack or if he hadn't lost all of his minions, but it was what it was. Games weren't anywhere near as fun unless you had to deal with the occasional setback.

Then the video had started making the rounds and all hell had broken loose. Tomura wasn't much for social media, so it had been Himiko and Dabi who had noticed first. She had heard about it while chatting online using a social media profile she had made using the face of a girl whose blood she had taken and, at almost the same time, he had come across a previous version of the video on an anonymous dark web message board he frequented.

Come to find that, safe in the anonymity provided by the internet, a lot of people were discussing what they had come to view as Stain's ideology and its place in modern society. There were many who had gotten it wrong but, judging by the initial sets of posts the two had found, there were some who seemed to understand and support it.

One thing was certain though: the timing of the video and the government's efforts to fight it had ensured that absolutely everyone had either heard of it, seen it, or both. Stain had gone viral.

This fact, when combined with the amount of hell they had raised in Hosu, warranted a celebration. It had originally been Kurogiri's suggestion, which Himiko had immediately agreed to. Tomura had agreed as well after he realized that this sort of thing was commonplace when one wanted to raise the party's morale and reward a job well done.

And that was how Tomura found himself lounging comfortably in his favorite booth with a drink in his hand as he watched the members of his slowly-growing League interact.

"Maybe we'll get a few more members out of this? It'd be nice to have ten or so…"

He trailed off and stared at nothing for a few moments before he became aware of someone poking him in the head.

"Hey, Shiga. What're you talking to yourself about? You drunk?"

"Probably." he threw back the remaining half of his Cuba Libre in one large gulp as Himiko sat down next to him, "Definitely."

"Feel like making a midsummer mistake?" he turned to see her smiling impishly at him.

"It's May. And are you even legal?"

"What do you care, Villain-san?"

"I've got _principles_ , damnit!"

"Well said!" Kurogiri called out from the bar, though he had no way of hearing anything that was said until that point.

"I know, I know. To be honest, I was mostly just teasing you."

It took more effort than it should have to focus entirely on her face and he felt a mischievous grin tugging at one corner of his mouth.

"What if I'd said 'yes?'"

"Huh?" she looked at him in surprise, face reddening a bit as she realized what he'd said.

"Your idea. What would you have done if I said 'yes?'"

It was the first time he'd seen her this flustered, but she was spared any further torment by a sudden exclamation from Dabi.

"Wait a minute! Say that part again!"

Tomura had been vaguely aware of Stain telling Dabi and Kurogiri the details of his fight with Endeavor's interns, but he hadn't really been listening. He sat up straighter and narrowed his eyes as he focused on the bar to see an unruffled Stain looking quizzically at Dabi, who had shot to his feet and was pointing at him while Kurogiri's eyes widened steadily with surprise…or was that recognition?

"He breathed a stream of fire at me as I descended in an effort to-"

"And you said he was young? How young exactly?" Kurogiri urged, "College? High school?"

"High school probably. It was difficult to tell because of his costume."

Oh.

Oh shit.

"Shiga? What is it?" Himiko was giving him a concerned look which probably had something to do with the massive grin he belatedly realized was plastered onto his face.

"Kurogiri, the…the pictures! Get the one…the one that shows the kid…from the thing!" he attempted to stand but collapsed back into his seat almost immediately because the table in the booth was very much a solid object, "Himiko, I need you to bring the bar over here, the table won't let me."

Kurogiri meanwhile was rummaging beneath the bar through the various folders and files he kept down there. Eventually Tomura found that the bar had indeed gotten closer and he was looking at a few images of a particular U.A. student.

"Stain, is this the kid you saw?"

"Hard to say for certain, since none of these show that costume…" Stain shifted the photos around, thinking carefully, "His build appears to be similar and the shots of his Quirk…they appear to match. There is a good chance they are the same person. Why?"

"Because this is the kid that nearly roasted me at USJ! Seriously, what are the odds of this shit?" Tomura put a hand to his forehead out of sheer disbelief. How was it that this same kid kept getting in their way? They hadn't been anywhere _near_ U.A. that time!

" _You don't say?"_ silence immediately fell over the bar as the television on the wall crackled to life and Sensei spoke to them, his deep voice sounding vaguely amused, _"An interesting coincidence…if it is one."_

"What do you mean by that, sir?" Kurogiri inquired as Stain and Dabi looked at the television with surprised interest, this being the first time they had heard Sensei speak. Dabi, this being only his second day, hadn't heard very much about him apart from the fact that he was the League's overseer while Tomura was its acting leader.

" _Dabi, is it? Would you kindly open HeroTube on your computer's web browser and search for a certain incident which took place in April of 2221? I believe 'All Might Sludge Villain' should produce a workable result. Find a video that is at least ten minutes long and scrub to roughly the three-minute mark."_

"Uh, sure." Dabi did as he was told and sure enough, they found themselves looking at a slightly younger version of the boy in the pictures, "Whoa."

" _Kurogiri, have you been able to keep up with the task I assigned you?"_

"Of course, sir."

" _Please summarize the report beginning from around that time."_

"Immediately after the so-called Sludge Villain Incident, All Might's public appearance rate decreased by approximately seventy percent. The number of sightings reported in the general Musutafu area nearly doubled beginning at this same time, with many of these sightings being in the vicinity of Dagobah Beach, which was also mysteriously cleaned in full by February 2222. It was subsequently revealed that he had taken up a teaching position at U.A., which was the reason he gave for his lack of public appearances. Namely, that he had been getting a crash-course in education and was familiarizing himself with the area."

"So he got some on the job training and decided to clean a beach. So what? He's that kind of guy." Himiko shrugged.

" _That is one way of looking at it. Indeed, that is the logical way of looking at it. But what if we assumed instead that All Might took that boy on as his apprentice and spent that time training him, having been impressed by his display of Heroism? That too would be in-character for him."_

"Don't you think that seems like kind of a stretch?" Dabi protested, "I mean, yeah, it fits the situation, but so would All Might suddenly taking up knitting or deciding to jerk off onto all of the awards and commendations he's received in chronological order. It'd probably take him about that long and would explain why nobody saw him anymore until he started teaching."

"What he means to say, sir, is that you must have more evidence than just this to come to that sort of conclusion." Kurogiri gave Dabi a disapproving look.

" _The evidence has been broadcast throughout the country on numerous occasions. The actions he took in USJ, the rivalry he has with Endeavor's son that mirrors All Might's relationship with the boy's father, the fact that he managed to interest the man enough to take him on as an intern and, most recently, Stain's own account of his encounter with the boy."_

"To say that he follows All Might's ideals would be an understatement." Stain replied, "He outright quoted him to me with a completely straight face. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was trying to _become_ All Might."

" _A successor, then?"_ Sensei mused.

"I saw the potential in him. Whether it takes him that far remains to be seen, but I gave him a push in the right direction."

"Really?" Himiko suddenly became interested in the pictures, "He's alright, I guess, but he doesn't look that special to me."

"As I said, it remains to be seen." Stain gave a small shrug, "Deku will need to face many trials before he rises to that level. Any one of them has the potential to break a man beyond fixing. Only a true Hero can conquer them all and remain steadfast in his ideals."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to how much a guy who is literally known for slaughtering Heroes seems to worship the ground they walk on. It's such a contradiction." Tomura groused as he drank the water Kurogiri had provided for him.

"I only cull those who are unworthy of being called Heroes. As it happens, that's most of them."

" _I agree wholeheartedly. Now, what was that boy's name, Kurogiri? You did say you would try to find out."_

"I have succeeded in that, sir. His name is Midoriya. Izuku Midoriya."

" _Midoriya…you don't say."_ though none of them could see his face, Tomura thought his mentor sounded taken aback.

"Do you know that name, Sensei?"

" _I feel as though I may have heard it once before, but it must have been quite some time ago. Think nothing of it."_

"So we're thinking that in addition to being linked to Endeavor, there's a good chance that this kid is linked to All Might, possibly as his successor. This all adds up to him being a pain-in-the-ass in-the-making." Dabi scratched his head, "Are we doing anything about that, or can I go back to drinking? Been a while since I've had a nice buzz."

Though his tone was as flippant as ever, Tomura noticed that he had looked at him while asking that. Indeed, all eyes were now on him.

"Shiga?" Himiko got his attention, "Whatever it is, I'll do it. You know that, right? If you say to leave him alone, that's what we'll do. If you say to kill him, that's what we'll do. Stain probably won't be happy about it, but…"

"Not much sense in killing kids. They generally don't deserve it." Dabi chimed in, "Situation being what it is though, I guess I could make an exception."

"You know my opinion on the matter already." Stain frowned, "I'll need a very convincing argument to reverse my decision."

"The choice is yours, Tomura Shigaraki." Kurogiri inclined his head.

"Fucking hell…" Tomura groaned, internally bemoaning the fact that he was far to intoxicated for him to have to make these sorts of decisions right now and that this must be the GM's way of getting back at him for something he had done before.

Still, he had to decide.

"We won't do anything…at least not just yet." he paused, trying to form a coherent reason, "For one thing, we won't have the opportunity. Stain beat him up good enough that he won't be back in the field for a bit and by the time that happens he'll be back in class…right? These things don't last that long, do they?"

"Upperclassmen sometimes have ongoing work studies, but since Midoriya's a freshman, it'll probably only be for a week or something." Himiko confirmed.

"Right. Second, even if we had the opportunity, he's not the easiest target to get to at the moment. He's in Endeavor's care right now and then he's going back to U.A., where we've got All Might and all those other teachers to deal with. Not to mention that after USJ they'll have made it harder to pull something like that again, which brings me to the third reason: Our party's too small. I don't want an army of cannon fodder like we had before; I'm fine with a smaller, more elite group, but we still need more bodies. Even if an opportunity comes up, we don't have enough people to pull off an operation that risky and we can't just keep throwing more Nomus at the problem either. Strong ones take time to make."

He thought for a moment and tossed one more reason out there.

"Lastly, I'm not entirely sure we _need_ to do anything about the kid, at least not right away. It's like Stain said: he's still a long way from being any kind of actual threat. We can revisit this later, when he's worth more XP."

 _Not to mention it would suck to have gone to all the trouble of getting him on our side for good just to piss him off right away._

" _Well-reasoned, Tomura. My apologies for interrupting your celebration. You have done well and deserve to relax. Please, carry on."_

With that, the speakers went dead.

"Well, if he approves, I guess it's all good?" Himiko asked.

"He's usually pretty hands-off, honestly." Tomura explained, "He doesn't step in and actually _give_ orders unless the situation is serious or I'm about to _really_ screw up. He's still got stuff in the works off-screen, I'm sure, but he usually leaves us to do our own thing."

"Kinda gives me the creeps, if I'm being honest." Dabi had apparently decided that since he was already on HeroTube, he should look up funny videos, "He kind of pulls off the whole 'faceless, omniscient overlord' thing a little _too_ well, you know? Can't help but think there's a lot going on that he's not telling anyone."

"The man is a living legend." Kurogiri chuckled, "Of course he has more going on. Now, we are under orders to carry on; who wants another?"

Everyone who could legally drink raised their hands.

* * *

 **I originally intended for there to be another scene or two here, but I just couldn't drag myself out of the bar.**

 **Now, regarding that announcement I was talking about up top. The reason this didn't come out two weeks ago is because, due to a combination of layoffs and internal shifting, my workload at my job has noticeably increased. As I generally get a healthy amount of work done on each chapter during my downtime there, this has impacted my production schedule. While this situation persists, I cannot guarantee a chapter every two weeks like I have been doing. I can still guarantee at least one a month and will do two if I find myself able, but for the time being there will likely be longer stretches in-between.**

 **I thank you for your continued support and understanding in this matter.**

 **If you'd like to see more of my stuff and support me in a more direct way though, I encourage you to check out my Pat_reon, Fires of Creation. Just $1 a month gets you access to patron-exclusive omakes, an ongoing Audiobook adaptation of Torchbearer, monthly chapters of my original work, ContRact, as well as access to a patron-exclusive Discord server where, among other things, I post snippets of new chapters a day or two prior to posting them.**

 **Hey, if I get enough support I'll be able to quit that job and then production time won't be nearly as much of an issue XD.**

 **Special thanks to The 0bservanc3, Fallenasgardian, Hyper and all of the others who are already supporting me in this way.**

 **Next time we'll be back with the students. Might be Izuku, might be other internships, might be both. Probably be both.**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


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